Fathoms Under
by UnburntKhaleesi
Summary: The Trench was constructed solely with safety in mind by Poseidon himself, it also effectively hid Calypso and her powerful childe that time forgot. Axilia Dalma is the true heir to all Seven Seas. Fury or favor, twisted to her mother's perfection? For certain, the one who's name is etched upon her skin "a. Curry" was thought to be the most unfortunate or luckiest bloke of them all
1. Chapter 1: Ocean Eyes

**So I am gonna try my hand at something. It's a multiple crossover, but the main ones are Aquaman and Pirates of the Caribbean... With a splash of Percy Jackson in there. I may leave it as Aquaman? I don't know… It starts POTC and will work from there into Aquaman. I already have how in mind. **

**I am going to put this as… I think T. And if it goes up it will increase on my AO3.**

**Picture is up. The story itself, very first chapter, is almost 5,000 words? I am gonna name this… Ocean Eyes. (It was "Timeless". I am hereby changing it.) **

**Arthur Curry x OFC. (Of course. I couldn't help this okay. I saw Aquaman more times than I can count now and I needed this. I don't know about you, but I needed this. There isn't enough Aquaman stories on here and I needed something that was cool. ...Hopefully.. Italic is emphasis or flashbacks, obviously.)**

**Thank you for clicking. **

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_A dark cloaked figure moved unhindered by the water around them, the fabric dancing gracefully around the feminine body as the woman used the shadowy depths that reached heavenward from the coral reef as the perfect camouflage. Having to flee from their own home, the darkness was a perfect safe haven for the near loneliness that clawed at her very soul. _

_A soft cry reached her ears then, taunting her even if she forgot the supported weight held within her arms. Almost… instinctively, humming produced itself from dark lips, the sound almost warped as bubbles raced to the surface with glee and as dark orbs looked down at the cradled babe in her arms… the sea witch could almost feel the corners of her lips twitch into a barely there smile. How odd a sight would have been to any who looked upon her. The woman bounced the babe lightly, gazing down at the near human manifestation of the love that the woman knew her King had for her. Her dreadlocks, with some parts being lighter than the rest, swayed with every movement. _

_The childe, with two shades lighter than her own skin tone, looked like a beautiful mix of both her parents. She could hardly believe how tiny her fingers and toes were, and for once in her life Tia thought more than just of her and her king. How could she not, looked down at those ocean eyes looking back at her once more… and how soft that black hair felt to touch._

_Hesitantly, the woman shifted her grasp to reach into the pocket of her worn dress; and with a near steady grasp she pulled out a extricate design trident necklace with a seahorse charm and two crystals that were different shades of blue. Looking at it with longing in her dark gaze, Tia slowly pulled it over her daughter's head, positioning it to land lower than what she personally deemed as acceptable. With narrowing eyes slowly transitioning into a look of… not acceptance but something closer than dismal… she finally fought herself to utter her daughter's name for the first time in four days, "_Axilia Dalma."

_And Tia knew, even as she held her daughter closer to her body before they moved on to find their new home, that the necklace from her father was only the first of many things that Axilia will just have to learn to grow into._

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A mischievous grin warped on a young woman's face as she swiftly pulled herself up onto the boarding dock, the ocean water trying to clinging to her as she landed her bare feet with a soft thump onto the wooden surface. Her soul felt like it was groaning with yearning, for her most earliest memories were that of the cold comfort that the sea provided. Now forced into the shell of a human form that fit too snug, Axilia learned a thing or two along the road to adulthood. Clutching at the trident necklace that fell onto her bosom, the twenty three year old woman traced the designs etched upon it with a finger before she allowed it to fall from her hand. Her dark hair was pulled into a long flowing braid, though little pieces successfully broke free

Wearing a black dress that now clung to her form, she began to move forward confidently, her booted feet barely making a sound on the port in her stride with an ever so slight skip in her step. Blending within the shadows with the craft that she inherited from her mother, she stalked into Singapore with one sole mission in mind. Chuckling lowly, ocean eyes slid shut as she sensed the unseen through the salted muggy air; holding onto her composure even as the sounds of the various parties with giggling women and drunken idiots reached her ears.

After a moment of silence her mother sent a pulse of power to her, the result was a giggle from her plump lips that may have sounded too innocent, and Axilia placed her necklace in her cleavage before she picked up the bottom of her dress to find the one in question.

_It's almost showtime._

Stormy orbs glowed with glee as the young woman made her way up the beautifully designed wooden bridge, skipping up to a creaking little cart that held a cloaked figure and a monkey. She smiled disarmingly at the little chimp in greeting before helping her mother push the cart, under the disguise that she was assisting a person older in age. Oh, how they would thought so had no idea how truly right they were.

She watched as the moon shone from high above upon the golden crab necklace, even as her mother sharply reached to pull the lever to start the instrumental music of the song that none knew more about than the two of them. Axilia reached out her hand in offering and without a moment of hesitation, the monkey leapt onto her. She followed after her mother with her prize, the frigid air dulling as she grew numb to it.

She held her breath, knowing she would release a snicker if she turned back to see as soldiers absentmindedly walked past the cart without so much as a passing glance. _How they could be dulled to their own surroundings is beyond my compatible thinking…_ She truthfully wondered but the almost familiarity of a sharp glare that her mother aimed at her strengthened her resolve to utter such opinions.

_The king and his men_

_The king and his men_

_stole the queen and child from their bed..._

_and bound them in their bones._

She still remembered that fateful night in her teen years, after her mother finally opened up to what the very first Brethren Court had done… and Axilia wondered to this day if she mother knew that her daughter once had blood tainting her hands as well. That her baby girl wasn't as innocent as the woman was probably led to believe. She didn't tell her mother that it was also the night that she got her soulmark, for they only were gifted in the event that the person felt in danger or close to death. The outward product of the soul yearning to stay alive. It was also the night that she found out the miraculous properties that she had over water, even in this form. How stupid of them to drop the daughter of Poseidon in what they believed to be a watery grave.

With practiced ease, she eased her body into a almost indifferent slouch; but her heart quickened when she felt more than witnessed with her eyes that the woman whom gave birth to her tighten her body as if she were a snake ready to strike.

Her mother was a woman as changing, harsh, and untamable as the sea… and Axilia couldn't deny anymore that it was something she got from both of her parents. She previously liked to think of herself as separate, having her own code as another being. Now, however… it seemed that they more she was around her mother; the more she understood, and that scary thought was somehow easier to accept. They were, after all, almost one in the same.

_The seas be ours_

_and by the powers_

_where we will, we'll roam._

_Yo, ho..._

_All hands haul together,_

_hoist the Colors high._

The words stirred within her soul, hopeful that one day she would be free from this nearly weak containment of a body. How strange that she could heal any wound inflicted upon her by simply touching water but still be apart from it. She shook gently to clear her thoughts away, and when her mother gave her a knowing look Axilia wondered once more if she knew that most had been hunted to pay their dues to Hades. Her mother opened her mouth to speak but at that very moment gunfire interrupted their thoughts, and Axilia fought the twitch that took hold of the right corner of her lips when she saw people running and the metallic sound that came with swords clashing. Her mother dragged her behind a storage container ready for ship transport when her eyes caught a mere glimpse of Elizabeth's wind swept hair as the younger woman ran, before she rose from her hiding place while wondering if she needed any help… only to be pulled down once more by her irate mother.

"No childe, ye must not!" She could tell her mother was angry at the mere prospect of what she was going to do, her accent thicker than normal, her eyes wide almost pleading. Her mother's voice was almost unheard as chaos echoed from around them.

"...I'm sorry." Axilia offered in a sorrowful tone, for once disobeying her mother as she released herself from her mother's firm grip with a few sharp tugs and ran into battle after picking up the sword of a dead man. She sliced her path to Elizabeth, being careful not to stab so she wouldn't have to tug the sword from a body. She knew naught who these attackers were but Axilia would like to think of Elizabeth as a friend, something she knew nothing of.

"Lizzy!" She screamed out as she reached the dirty blonde, slashing the soldier that was behind Elizabeth on his side before lifting a leg to have her boot make contact with his privates. Her smirk growing with a silent taunt as he clutched at himself and fell off of the level, a splash signalling that the water welcomed him home.

"Where have you _been_?" Elizabeth huffed at her as she fought, making Axilia huff playfully at her tone.

"Why? Did you miss me?" And even though there was no answer that followed immediately, Axilia just knew with certainty that the pale girl did in fact miss her. Elizabeth huffed again in response only a moment later, but this time she was smirking as well.

Straining her ears, the Axilia grinned sharply upon hearing the familiar melody about to end and gazed where the cart innocently sat behind a group of soldiers lining up on the bridge with guns. Pulling Elizabeth harshly from out of the range of fire, Axilia smile shifted quickly into a devious smirk from where they now hid behind a shop quite a few spots away. She moved her lips to the music, anticipation quaking her bones.

_Heave-ho._

_Thief and beggar._

_Never say we -_

The music stopped suddenly at the last word, exploding and blasting the soldiers and their commander into the watery river down below the docks.

_die._

Out of the corner of her eye she caught movement that made her turn. Her mother, cold and fierce, sat behind the counter that was behind the exploding cart. Dark orbs that were lined in eyeliner and dabs of warrior paint caught hers for a long moment before her mother nodded her head softly, almost unnoticeable. After looking at her mother with softened eyes, knowing that the older Dalma stuck around the offer protection to her child, Axilia jumped back into the fight as her mother crouched down with a hat on her head, becoming invisible once more until she would need assistance.

Elizabeth took off running with Axilia on her heels as they met up with Will and Sao feng's crew. Upon placing her feet on the ship, her mother reached to hold her in a grasp that was much like how Axilia was held as a child. They were silent as Barbossa growled out, 'You have the charts?' She eyed the crew behind Will with a suspicious gaze as the boy chucked them at the white bearded pirate who easily caught them mid-air, "Better yet, a ship and a crew."

"Where is Sao feng?" Axilia inquired at Will, speaking for the first time since coming aboard the ship… though she twisted her lips to keep hidden the amusement at seeing Elizabeth in the corner of her left eye making romance novel stares at the boy and seemingly lost the ability to talk.

"He will cover our escape and meet us at Shipwreck Cove." Axilia paused as she heard Will's response. And even though she knew the story, and saw her mother also stiffen in response… there was something more. A feeling threatened to consume her from the inside out, but for all her strength, she couldn't seem to place the reason this fear.

"There is an _evil_ on these seas.." She absentmindedly heard her mother tell Elizabeth then at the bow of the ship and Axilia turned her head, forcing herself to stop eyeing the waving current of the sea longingly, to look the two woman who seemed to be doing the same thing. "That even the _most bloodthirsty pirates_ have come to _fear_.."

Elizabeth caught her eye for confirmation, and Axilia held it for a little longer than a second before nodding, signaling that she felt it to. Even without the mystical arts that her mother taught her under her belt, she knew instinctively that her mother's words held truth indeed. ...Her step-father's crew no doubt hoist the sail.

Axilia turned back to the sea before sighing softly as the cool wind blew the salt from the sea to cling to her form in comfort. It was a call that she couldn't answer back anymore but she knew at least one thing with certainty.

Nothing good could come out of Davy Jones...

Nothing good at all.

_And_, Axilia sighed as she touched the right area of her torso where the phantom pain sometimes echoed, _that was apparently something that Dalma women learned the hard way._

* * *

_"Sashia." Axilia uttered softly to the yellow and white scaled Burmese Python as it slowly made it's way to her, whom that her mother gifted her with when she had uttered that she wanted a pet of her own. And you know, the younger Dalma had thought of a beautiful falcon or something aquatic… not a highly venomous snake. _Really, thank you mother. _She thought with sarcasm, and suspected the gift was bought because venom could be used in multiple ways. To this day, she still knew naught the reason behind it. Still, the young snake had grown to almost full size in what seemed like no time at all. _

_It slid up her chair, coiled around her right arm with it's cold scales to lay it's head upon the back of her hand. Sticking it's tongue out to taste the air, the heavy snake in question stayed there in that single position for a few minutes before sliding down to hunt for prey within the hut. Axilia looked to her mother, boredom growing within her even as she watched the display of crushing roots to be used for later. She couldn't withhold a sigh, even though it gained her mother's attention. To which she shrugged at, for there was longing in her soul to see uncharted waters. To know and explore the hidden depths of the world. _

_Her mother was one of the few that Axilia had come to know within her seemingly short life that understood. She held a restless soul within her shell, one that showed more mysteries than answers. Her mother quirked her lips in her direction in response, knowing all too well how that felt. There was a creak of movement above their heads, making Axilia roll her orbs as she didn't necessarily care for their… new _houseguest_._

_She kept silent however, instead choosing to look upon her snake once more before sleep consumed her from the spot she held in the chair. When she awakened, her mother was still in the same spot that Axilia seen her - behind her desk fooling with magicks that her daughter never took much interest in. The only difference was a warm blanket was draped over Axilia's form, making her lips twist upward before something reached her ears outside of the hut. She reached for the small knife hidden within her dress before Axilia even knew she was doing so. It wouldn't be the first time that someone got drunk and brave, probably wouldn't be the last either._

_It wasn't until a face that was coming familiar peered into one of the empty holes of glass in the middle of the door frame… that, finally, Axilia relaxed. She hoped that Jack Sparrow didn't come to them with trouble hounding after him, "Mother." She uttered in warning and Tia looked up sharply to see Jack stayed within the doorway until they allowed him entry, his attire the same as they both remembered him to wear. His cap and the beads in his hair the same as well, though there was more lines on his face now and from this angle she could see the outline of a nasty looking X scar on the upper part of his right cheek._

_An almost terrifying grin curled upon her mother's face, fully showing nearly all of her teeth and her dark orbs glinting underneath the soft light. "Jack… Sparrow." Her mother welcomed him in by the way that she uttered his name, which he had been clued in on as well given by the way he stepped forward with a playful grin on his lips._

_"Tia Dalma…" Dark eyes that were shadowed deeply with eyeliner caught Axilia's gaze as well, swiftly catching the small blade still in her grasp before looking back at her face once more, "Shorty." He nodded in greeting, though the young woman wondered if she caught sight of worry within his orbs before he masked it. The only thing to ponder was… why?_

_He started forward again, and stalled in disgust at the bottle that hung from the ceiling to stop at his eye level. It housed a murky yellow liquid with little reptile eye balls at the bottom. Axilia fleetingly thought his expression to be hilarious, especially as this was the only way of life that she knew. Her attention shifted after Jack caught himself and smoothed out his expression however, for more people came into the hut - uninvited - behind him. _

_"I had a feeling that the wind would blow you back to me one day." Her mother purred at Jack as she picked up a side of her dress with one hand and moved around the desk to be closer to the pirate. Axilia, safely behind her mother, rolled her eyes with restrictions before she went back to gaze at the unfamiliar faces… Jack seemed unbothered by such people. Meaning that these people made up Jack's crew, another question came and went unanswered, why were they even here? When each of their eyes locked on how her fingers were clenched around her blade, they're weight shifted from boot to boot. Skittish, what need does Jack have for them?_

_The answer came quickly enough as a man with dark hair that was pinned back - natural, she suspected, given into account his eyebrows and a barely there mustache - deep brown eyes cleared his throat to draw attention to himself. When he spoke, his voice held a hint of a Scottish accent even though it was in English, and what he said was the very last thing that Axilia thought to hear from him…_

_"It seems…" He hesitated when he looked into her mother's eyes before forcing himself to pursue forward. His voice naturally controlled and peaceful, and Axilia couldn't help but marvel at that, especially given the subject at hand. "We have a need to find The Flying Dutchman."_

_Shock clawed at her insides, making her want to impulsively run her fingers over the mark behind her right ear, a gold trident that had an _"a. curry" _right beside it. Why her soulmate was named after a spice was beyond her. She could be silent no longer, "...The Flying Dutchman?!" Her hard voice seemed to echo through the silence that engulfed them, and she cursed Jack for bringing whatever troubles to their door. Surely these lot could take their death wish somewhere else._

_Each one looked at her then and whatever Axilia's expression consisted of, made all but one turn away from her. It wasn't that she was scared of _him_, her mother taught her more than enough of teachings not to be, but she wanted nothing to do with whatever Jack was involved in. She blamed Davy Jones for setting her mother up to be contained by the first Brethren Court, and if her mother wasn't caught neither would she be stuck in this shell of a body… fighting fruitlessly to get _out.

_"Axilia." Her mother sounded calmly, the look in her eyes telling her that she wanted to see where this went before she kicked them out. So her daughter gritted her teeth and watched as her mother moved to sit back behind her desk, grasping hold of her multiple crab claws with two hands before she said spell over them. Others watched the scene that Axilia had witnessed multiple times whenever her mother wanted to find someone, Tia Dalma threw them down onto the parchment that laid on the desk dramatically. And those dark orbs quickly went unfocused as she saw beyond the hut they were in._

_"Don't touch her." Axilia growled through clenched teeth at all of them before she made to move to stand behind her mother, fully aiming to swat any hand that dared to not heed her words. She sighed, angered at them all even though she knew naught all of their names._

_Damn it, Jack. ...What did you get up wrapped in now?_

A cold chill clutched at her bones as brightly colored ocean eyes slowly revealed themselves. Axilia huffed, as she curled into a ball and pulled the blanket to cover her whole bottle for added warmth. It had been a while since she experienced this kind of lowly temperature. Above the wooden boards of her ceiling, noise a buzzed loudly making her groan irritably about it. While half asleep Axilia slipped her shoes on, wrapped her blanket around her and hesitantly started up the creaking stairs to see what all the fuss was about.

Snow gingerly fell from the sky as a shadow emerged from one of the huge glaciers around it, revealing their pirate ship moving through the water slowly. Beside the shivering little monkey, she witnessed two men, whom of which she still didn't know the names of, with snow clinging to their beards. They sat said by side with their arms wrapped around their body trying to conserve body heat. "_Nobody said anything about the cold!_" One of the men, who had more weight than the other pirate beside him, sneered in outrage.

"I – I'm _sure_ there _must_ be a _good reason_ for our uffering.." The one beside him shivered as he said this, not sparing the man beside him a glance as he did so.

"Why doesn't that o'bay woman," The first one growled out as he glared at her mother, making her blood boil in outrage from within her veins, "not just bring Jack back the same way she brought back Barbossa?! I am sure Axilia would be able to do something to help-"

"_Because_," Both of their heads jerked to the left as an ancient accented voice interrupted them, their brown eyes widening as they took in the lethal form of the sea witch with her hair in dreads, arms crossed and darkness shrouding within her narrowed eyes, "Barbossa was _only dead_ – Jack Sparrow was _taken_ – _body and soul. _Axilia," The woman glared at them for the tone they used to say her child's name, "refuses to immerse herself in the practice in fear of losing herself. Neither of us can help a person who went to a place where you only find _punishment_, and the worst fate a person can bring upon himself." She stepped forward and in one swift movement was in front of them, "That's what awaits you _in Davy Jones' locker!"_

"Mother..." Axilia uttered softly, watching with understanding as her mother took a deep breath to compose herself before the older Dalma walked away. That could have been worse… she could have turned the men into something slimy.

"...I- I knew there was a r-reason." The skinnier one murmured softly, trying to stop the uncontrollable shivering that seized his body. Axilia wondered why he remained above deck but chose to be silent as her eyes connected with Elizabeth's form, she knew naught what it was but… She was almost sure that the girl was hiding something.

_"...What would _any of you _be _willing to do_?" Axilia __watched with hooded eyes as her mother questioned the group that was just standing around their home, and it seemed as if she was baiting them to a goal. In fact, she was almost positive that her mother was. It had something to do with saving Jack, she figured because that was the subject of conversation… but maybe, just maybe, it had to do with something more. "Hmm?"_

_More silence followed in response._

_"Would you be willing to sail to the ends of the Earth and beyond… to save Jack and the _precious _Pearl?" Her mother looked around the room at their faces, her eyes glittering with a taunt to each one before she laid eyes on the man who had introduced himself as 'Will Turner'._

_He stalled, clearly questioning if such a cost was too great, before strengthening his resolve. Standing tall he released an, "Aye."_

_"Alright." Her mother grinned brightly, an air of approval clearly taking over, "but… if you _want _to _brave _the _weird _and _haunted shores _at world's end…" Tia turned from Will to look at the woman named Elizabeth, "Then you will need a _Captain _who is familiar with such waters." _

...Finally! Time to let out the pet, _Axilia thought with great relief as booted feet slowly came down the stairs. She watched with faux amusement as the group gathered around the stairs, shock etched on all of their faces. _Yes, surprise. Surprise. ...Take him off of our hands! _She mentally urged them all as he dramatically waited a moment before speaking. _

_"So, tell me… what has become of _my _ship?" _

_Axilia caught sight of the monkey, that somehow dodged her snake, as he climbed up Barbossa's jacket. After a moment of consideration, she leaned over to whisper softly in her mother's ear, "The monkey can stay… right?"_

_All she got was a smile in return._

Will walked passed her with the map, careful to not so much as brush her accidentally, and thrusted the rolled up contents into the hands of - "Would you care to interpret, _Captain_ Barbossa?" Axilia found humor in his sarcasm when he said 'captain'. That was one thing that they seemed to have in common, their mutual lack of respect for Barbossa… but her amusement faded quickly as a result of the next eight words that came out of Barbossa's mouth. She suspected that it would come up sometime or another but also hoped that this wouldn't be the subject of conversation of long.

She shivered with the combination of the cold and the reminder of a broken past.

"Ever gazed upon the '_Green Flash_'... Master Gibbs?"

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**Okay. So... I hope you liked it. I think I did okay… maybe. Hopefully I can put out more lengthy chapters and we will be able to get to Arthur sooner... ;) Please let me know what you think?**


	2. Chapter 2: Land of the Dead

**Hey, peoples. I am back with the next chapter, hopeful we will get to the main goal quicker this way. To be clear, I'm not going to rush this… as in skipping over important stuff and everything. We need background build up on Axilia's character before anything else. I hope you guys understand. **

**I hope you like her so far. This was uploaded faster because 1.) I am actually excited for this story and 2.) The few people that reviewed gave me wonderful feedback. Yes, I thank u you for favoriting and following but reviews give me insight on what you think about it as a whole. **

**Please don't forget to review, even if it's only one word. It really does help the writing process get going. That being said, I am uploading again even though I posted the first chapter last night. So, really you should thank: Ana Kookie and NicoleR85 for this one. :) Thank you, ladies. Literally, reviews are the stuff that really counts here. **

**(Not bad of a word count either. Woot woot.)**

**Now… let's get this started, shall we? ;)**

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_"And it is likely _inside _of de chest that you seek… don't it?" Axilia saw her mother question those around her, before they both locked their orbs on Will Turner for they both knew that he couldn't seem to lie to save his life. He turned his eyes away from them, feeling their weight but refusing to give in… unknowingly silently answering Tia's question. _

_"What is inside the chest?" One of them spoke up curiously, and after this was questioned it seemed that many others were slurred forth. Each one giving their theories as seemingly priceless objects such as gold, jewels and "other unclaimed properties or valuables"... And they seemed to actually believe that they would tell them. That they owed these men that much, and it annoyed her for these men were taking up space in the Dalma residence. Foolish, she wanted to tell them that she disliked the fact that they were being counterproductive - breathing hot air in a place her mother just smudged this morning with white sage. She knew she shouldn't have been surprised though… The creed is greed with pirates. _

_"...Nothing bad… I hope." The skinny, pale faced one worried; his wide blue eyes seemed to silently plead with them to tell him that he was right. Axilia pursed her lips to keep from laughing, knowing that her mother was most likely going to tell them and she kinda looked forward to it now. ...It had nothing to do with seeing his reaction. Honest._

_"Ye heard of… Davy Jones… yes?" Her mother questioned the crowd before her, all of whom was leaning in with anticipation to hear the story. "A _man _of… _The Sea_." She did a whimsical notion with her right hand, that almost resembled a wave… and it took literally everything in Axilia not to snort in response to the half truth. "A Great salior~... Until…" She pointed a bronze finger up to be dramatic with her story telling, "he ran off which vexes all men."_

_"...What 'vexes all men'?" Will questioned after a moment when it showed that none of the others would ask._

_Her mother smirked dangerously at him and moved to speak, though Axilia was bored with this fake bedtime story. "What indeed." She uttered dryly in response, trying to put a stop to her mother dragging this out unnecessarily. There was no need at all for this conversation, she wondered why her mother was even indulging them. Again, the men joined in with exasperation claiming it was the sea, 'sums', and weirdly enough the tall and skinny one threw in "Good and Evil". If the men thought their exasperation counted at all compared to hers at the moment, then she was right in thinking that they had the emotional range of a radish. _

_Jack finally sighed in response, looked at all of them incredulous before he threw in pointedly, "A woman."_

_"A woman~." Her mother confirmed as she leaned back in her chair, "They fell in _love_."_

_"No, no, no. I heard that it was the sea that he fell in love with." One of them denied and Axilia sighed deeply in response, searching within herself for patience. How thick can you be to think that one could fall in love with an inanimate object? _

_"Same story, different versions." Her mother snapped at the plump male that thought he knew more than her, "And _all _are _true_!" She pointed him in warning before gesturing with that same hand to her body, "You see it was a _wo-man _as _changing _and _harsh…_" She calmed to look to her men on her right, "and untamable as the sea. He never stopped loving her."_

_Axilia saw Will look down at the desk before him in thought, unseeing the objects locked within his gaze as he dived within his mind. Finally it seemed he wanted actual answers, "What… exactly… did he put into the chest?"_

_Axilia looked at the group as a whole with amusement glittering in her ocean eyes as her mother smiled widely at the man next to her, demented looking, with shining eyes. She gestured to her chest with one hand and uttered almost lovingly, "Him _heart_."_

_Axilia coughed in one of her hands at the terrified expressions that followed, and she witnessed Will go deep into thought again._

_Maybe, he would get the hidden meaning. Maybe he would question how her mother knew so much about all of this… why Jack Sparrow brought them _here_, of all places. ...Maybe, just maybe, he would remember that the woman was not just any woman but Calypso herself. ...And she had a daughter. The weight of her gaze upon him made him look up slowly, his eyes wider than what she thought them to be previously. And in that moment, she knew he was on the right track… even if he wasn't quite sure about it yet._

_And suddenly, as Axilia's smirk curled upon the corners of her lips, she wasn't bored out of her mind anymore._

_She was silent as her mother told them about the heart, keeping quiet to the fact that the love her mother had for Davy Jones wasn't even close to the mindless adoration she held for Axilia's father. Davy Jones wasn't the fierce pirate that the stories or her mother made him out to be, he was a squid bearded coward that cut out his heart so he wouldn't have to deal with accountability. Nothing more. _

_With daunting awareness in his gaze, Will stood up from his chair to glare heatedly at Jack… "You knew this…" He accused lightly and Axilia felt like it would be a miraculous sight to see him actually yell. _Wonder if I pay him a pound in gold he would actually do it…? _Axilia shook her head, _right… not the time.

_"I did not. I didn't know where the key was…" Jack offered in response, "but now we do. So all that's left is to climb aboard The Flying Dutchman, grab the key and you go down to Port Royal and save your bonny lass." _

_Will looked done with the argument, exasperated past the limit he could handle it looked like and when Jack turned something caught her mother's eye. Making her stand up sharply and demand to see he is hand. He tired to give her his right and rolled his eyes at the dry look that was aimed at him, giving in he placed his left in hers. Axilia watched curiously as her mother untied the bloody cloth wrap from around it to reveal his wound. It wasn't one that was familiar, though she was pretty sure that it smelled and if the superstitious reactions that followed by some of the crew wss to go by…_

_It was nothing good._

_"...My eyesight is as good as ever just to let you know.." Jack cheekily tried to offer, trying to make light of the situation. _

_And this time, Axilia actually did release a snort. "Hey Jack…" Her mother's friend sharply looked at her as she cut into the silence that followed, "Nobody mentioned your eyesight… besides _you_." She looked at him pointedly, releasing an audible groan before getting up to help her mother find something to help the pirate. Even though she somewhat doubted that any of her mother's concoctions will help him._

_Because, truthfully… it looked _infected.

_Axilia's body shivered in disgust._

Damn, she was starting to miss that cheeky bugger. Axilia rolled her eyes as she shivered with the combination of the cold temperature around them and the reminder of a broken past.

"Ever gazed upon the 'Green Flash'... Master Gibbs?"

The man in question nodded grimly in response, "I reckon that I've seen _my fair share_... It happens on a rare occasion. At the last glimpse of sunset, a green flash of light shoots up into the sky. Some go their whole lives without seeing it, some claim to have seen it that ain't. Some say…"

Another pirate jumped in, excitement to share his knowledge clear, "It signals when a soul comes back to this world... from the _dead_!" Gibbs gives him a deathly glare, for interrupting him, making the other pirate apologize.

"Trust me, _young_ Master Turner… it's not gettin' to the land of the dead that's the problem. It's gettin' back." Barbossa smiled darkly at the other man before handing over the charts back over to him. Will in turn worried his lips in dreadful concern.

Axilia shared a look with her mother, before eyeing the path before them as it swiftly grew narrower, the light from the sun halfheartedly leaking through a hole on the icy wall above them to shine the walls a soft, gorgeous color of blue. Her mother shifted closer to where she stood as darkness seemed to engulf the entire ship as well as every being that stood upon it.

* * *

If you had asked her how long the overwhelming darkness lasted, Axilia truthfully wouldn't have been able to tell you. She felt her mother make sure that she was, in fact, still there with reaching fingertips. And in the safety and over of the darkness, Axilia heard her mother release a soft sigh of relief and sooth her long dark hair in apparent worry. She allowed this, knowing that even if she wasn't scared… her mother was. For they both had knowledge of exactly how to get into Davy Jones locker and this right here, was only the beginning.

These soft touches were Calypso's way of telling her daughter that she didn't want to see her die. That saving Jack Sparrow's life was too great of a cost… but Axilia was already on the boat. They had come too far to turn back now. And, if Axilia held her mother's hand firmly to let her know that she wasn't afraid? Well, then that was solely their business.

Axilia tilted her head up a little and with closed eyes, she prayed to anyone listening that they were doing the right thing. That their course had already been charted. When she opened them, Axilia blinked a few times in a silent question for it looked like a star was above them. And suddenly it seemed, steering upon those gentle waters, the ship was encased from glittering stars from above. She wondered if they were _really stars _and not just crystals but chose to remain quite, grateful that the darkness had nearly gone with their arrival.

Her mother's hands were gone then, moving away to walk about the ship but Axilia didn't mind. She herself drifted towards the ocean and found herself mesmerized by how it reflected the moonless sky above them.

"How long are we going to continue not talking?" Will's voice reached her ears and she didn't have to look up to know that he was talking to Elizabeth.

There was silence for a little while at his question, like he hinted at a subject that was too taboo to talk about.

"Once we rescue Jack everything will be fine." The answer came unexpectedly, and Axilia's eyebrows pulled almost together in contemplation. _What did saving Jack Sparrow have to do with the two of you not talking? _It didn't make any sense… unless… Axilia pulled her body up straighter, casually looking at them in the corner of her left eye.

"...When we rescue Jack?" Will questioned in response, trying to understand and as Elizabeth just looks at him, Axilia sees one thing in the other woman's gaze that is very interesting before Elizabeth turned away from him.

Guilt. _...So that suspicion was true._

_...Interesting._

Finally, after he released a sigh, Will caught sight of what only three other people had knowledge of. He stood as straight as a plank, and Axilia casually moved over to him to speak. The sound of her voice startling him back from where his mind had disappeared in his worry, making him look upon her face then… before they caught sight of the necklace that somehow got out of the cleavage of her dress. His eyes widened ever so slightly. "For what we want the most… there is always a cost that must be paid in the end."

There was a shift behind her directing his gaze upon the woman that she knew was behind her, and with suspicion in his eyes… Will finally caught sight of her mother's necklace that was a crab coiled up into the shape of a heart. Haunting awareness sparkled in his dark orbs then, and that was when she was certain that he knew.

"Excuse me." He forced himself to say without a stutter to Axilia, the much less intimidating of the Dalma women, and moved past them after she had made room for him to past. Axilia could feel the weight of her mother's dark gaze upon her for what seemed like a few seconds before she looked upon the woman.

"Mother, you might want to grab your crab claws." She suggested lightly and Tia's hand quickly into the small pocket of her dress to grab them before moving to a wooden storage crate. Axilia watched as her mother mumbled in French, "Fish the criminal out of his tomb, the walkway melts in the water." only to throw them down as the others were freaking out that they were lost and accusing Barbossa of dooming them all. Even as the older pirate tutted at them and uttered, 'For certain you have to be lost to find the places can't be found. Elseways, everyone would know where it was.'

One yelled that they were gaining speed, and when Barbossa sarcastically just said, "Aye." Will made the call, probably thinking that Barbossa was insane in his madness… And while he would be right with such a thought on most occasions, this wasn't one of them.

"To stations! All hands, to stations! Hard to port, gather way!"

"Nay! Belay that! Let her run straight and true!" Barbossa denied, ignoring the 'Blimey!' that he had gotten from one man in return in favor of being annoyed that his crew wasn't listening to him.

"Tie her off!" Axilia heard Will demand of them from where he was and swiftly made her way over to him, her darker skinned hand grasping ahold of his muscular forearm. The touch stopped him abruptly, his eyes snapping to hers immediately.

"The Flying Dutchman had once held the sacred task of _ferrying souls_ who died at sea to the _worlds beyond_…" Axilia emphasized to the man before her, trying to get him to understand. And by the way that Will was looking at her, she hoped that she wasn't wrong in seeing signs that he understood. "Davy Jones' locker is _purgatory_… there is no use fighting it, Will."

She knew he was surprised because this was the first time that she ever used his name, but Axilia needed him to understand. She could tell he didn't understand what Barbossa meant when he said "the land of the dead" before. How naive of them to think that nature wouldn't demand life for-

"Hard to port!" Elizabeth demanded loudly, struggling to carry out the order. All they succeeded in doing was turning the ship to go down the waterfall backwards.

"Hold on!" Will's voice carried and suddenly he mother materialized right next to her, holding her firm with one hand and a rope hanging off the ship with the other. Axilia disregarded Will's gaze upon them and did the same, finding purchase on her mother with one hand. And as she felt her mother's grip tighten, the last thing that she was aware of was Barbossa laughing maniacally and the ship's weight being shifted as it tipped over the waterfall.

* * *

Through the darkness that consumed her world, Axilia felt her lungs gasping with life, a hallucination if there ever was one given the current circumstances. As she was slowly coming into awareness, there was a strong grip on her waist that helped her swim upon the waves… and it made her feel like she was a mere child again. Soon, there was wet sand underneath her fingertips, making her sluggishly claw upward. And through tinted vision, she held the grip on her release. It made Axilia look up to Will start to move forward before he looked down at her in concern, and even though her vision was still warped - her head shifted as she nodded to him in thanks.

_Mother…? _She sent out an inquiring pulse of her mother's craft and sighed in relief when she got something back in return. _This better be worth it in the end. _

She rested her head on the wet sand, using the cool temperature it provided to calm herself until Axilia thought that she was capable of lifting her head.

"This _truly_ is a Godforsaken place." The man called Gibbs uttered softly as he looked upon the sandy wasteland. _Well… he was certainly right about that, in fact that statement was too ironic to even put into words. _Axilia thought dryly, before pulling herself up from where she was coiled upon the sand. Her disgust growing as she felt that her socks were soiled within her boots. _Gross..._

"I don't see Jack… I don't see _anyone_." Elizabeth worried, making Axilia roll her eyes because they literally just got here. Even as Barbossa confirmed that he was here and that 'Davy Jones never once gave up that what he took.' there was still worry cast upon their expressions.

"It doesn't matter, we're trapped here by your doing. No different than Jack." Will uttered almost darkly to the "Captain" and Axilia was starting to grow annoyed by all the arguments that were produced by worry. She rolled her eyes and looked at her mother pointedly, eyeing the little crab that was settled in her mother's palm with glee.

Her mother spoke with her accent taunting them, petting the calmed crab with a finger and it was funny that it still didn't register to the crew who she was, "Witty Jack… is closer than you think."

Suddenly, black sails came over a sail dune, and while Axilia had smiled up at Jack from where he stood on top of the Black Pearl's mast, she soon redirected her gaze to the bottom of the boat were thousands of crabs pushed the ship into the water. She chose this moment while everyone else was distracted to lean over and high five her mother.

"Impossible." One of Sao Feng's crew uttered.

"...Boat." A person croaked in surprise.

"Slap me thrice and hand me to me momma, it's _Jack_!" Gibbs exclaimed before he led the group down to where Jack walking up onto the beach towards them. He ignored all the other exclamations in his haste to get to Jack until he had to speak over them, "A sight for sore eyes! Jack!"

"Mr Gibbs!" The captain in question burst out suddenly, his eyes narrowed at his first mate, and when Gibbs responded he continued daringly, "I thought so. I _expect_ you can fully account for your actions, then?"

"...Sir?"

"There has been a _perpetual and virulent lack of discipline_ aboard my vessel! _Why is that, sir_?" Jack hounded him, growing sterner with every word that left his lips.

"...You're in _Davy Jones' locker_, Captain." Gibbs uttered hesitantly, not really wanting to be the one would break the news to him.

With widened eyes and a his lips twitching upward in surprise, Jack in turn gave a hesitant glance at the Black Pearl; now understanding why that whole rock thing just happened. He shook his head with a snooty air about him and as he spoke, Gibbs nodded his head hesitantly, "I _know_ that. I _know_ where I am, and don't think that I don't."

_Yeah… right. _Axilia raised an eyebrow as she watched on, hearing Jack converse with Barbossa in an almost cheerful tone. After denying having shot Barbossa in Isla de Muerta, Jack gracefully moved on.

"Ah, Tia. Shorty. Out and about, eh? Thought you were grounded for life or something, girly. Allow me to say that both of you have agreeable sense of the macabre to any delirium." He paused to grin at them, "Tell me do either of you have any rum on hand?"

Will released a scoff before either of them could speak, understanding exactly what was going on now, and offering it up to those who didn't understand. "He thinks we're all a _hallucination_."

Hearing his words, Jack moved to stand in front of him, demanding answers to the paler man, "William, tell me something. Have you come because you need my help to rescue a certain distressing damsel? Or rather a damsel in distress? Either one, really."

Will's eyebrows pull together in incomprehension, "No."

"Well then, you wouldn't be here, would you? So you can't be here. Q.E.D. _you're not really here_." Jack asserted, daring him with his eyes to come up with an answer to such an argument.

It seemed that Elizabeth had to force herself to speak, "Jack? This is _real_... we're _here_." And as Jack looked back at her, Axilia saw the look in his eyes as he pointed at her… There was definitely a story there and if she had been right on her suspicions before-

She watched attentively as Jack scuttled back over to Gibbs quickly, probably in order to get away from the woman, "..._The locker_, you say?"

Gibbs nodded sorrowfully, "Aye."

"We've come to _rescue_ you." Elizabeth called to him, her face twisting into something that Axilia couldn't name at being ignored.

Jack smirked in response, "Have you, now? That's very... _kind_ of you. But seeing as _I_ possess a _ship_ and _you don't_, it seems as though _you're_ the ones in need of _rescuing_… and I'm not entirely sure that I'm in the mood…"

Barbossa rolled his eyes as he pointed to the Pearl, "I see _my_ ship... right _there_."

Jack snorted as he stumbled forward, his face twisting into a false sense of concerns as she shielded his eyes from the sun overhead with a hand. His eyes narrowed in thought as he moved closer to the water, "Hmm. _Can't spot it_, must be a _tiny little thing_ hiding somewhere behind the Pearl."

While Axilia thought he was hilarious, understanding why her mother insisted on calling him _"Witty Jack" _it seemed that others were done playing games.

"Jack! _Cutler Beckett_ has _the heart_ of _Davy Jones_. He _controls_ the _Flying Dutchman_-" Will was urged to inform him.

"He's taking over _the seas_." Elizabeth cut Will off, mirroring his panicked tone.

Her mother stepped forward, calmer than either of them, "_The song_ has already been _sung_... _The Brethren Court is called._"

Axilia could tell from where she stood that Jack was getting overwhelmed, his dark eyes darting around at their expectant faces. His hands outwardly reflecting the jittery edge that was in his orbs, "Leave you people alone _for a minute_ and _look_ what's happened! Everything's gone to _pot_."

"Aye, Jack. The world _needs_ you back _something fierce_." Gibbs pleaded with him as Jack started to walk away, but his captain was stopped only when Will spoke.

"And _you_ need a _crew_."

Jack paused all movement, and when he spun around to look at all of them, his eyes glittered darkly, "And… _Why_ should I sail with _any_ of you? Four of you have tried to kill me in the past, _one_ of you succeeded." He gestured to Elizabeth, and watched as Will eyed her with a long and surprised glance, whom of which couldn't return his gaze. She opened up her mouth to speak but promptly shut it.

_I knew it... _

"Oh…" Jack's lips twitched upward in amusement, happy to have put her on the spot, as he started forward. Well aware of Elizabeth's gaze on him turning harsh. "So, she's not told you? You'll have _loads_ to talk about while you're here." He walked up to her mother, eyeing his face with near distrust, "Now… as for you-"

Tia Dalma grinned up at him, teasingly, knowing full well he wouldn't leave her behind. Even if it was because if Jack took Axilia, which they both knew he would, he would have nothing short of a hellion on board. She said nothing however, merely grinned and raised an eyebrow at him.

"All right, I decided... you're in." They watched as he moved on, walking past Axilia and offering nothing but two taps on her right shoulder that basically said the same thing. "Don't need you, you scare me." He admitted that tall and skinny one before casually continuing on down the line, "Gibbs, you can come. Marty. Cotton. Cotton's parrot, I'm a little iffy… but at least I'll have someone to talk to." And then he stopped calling out names, making Axilia turn her body to look upon him. He stood in front of Sao Feng's men but addressed the one in the front, obviously the first mate. "And, who are you?"

"Tai Huang." The chinese looking man with three degree burns that could be shown on his face underneath that large dome hat introduced, "These are my men."

Axilia pursed her lips in response as Jack nodded his head in contemplation before stepping forward, a question upon his lips, "Where do your allegiances lie?"

Tai Huang simply uttered, "With the highest bidder."

And in face of this, Jack smiled a little and claimed, "_I_ have a _ship_."

Tai Huang shrugged easily with a little smirk, "That makes _you_ the highest bidder."

Jack nodded to him, turning away from him to pull out his compass, "Good man. _Weigh anchor_, all hands, _prepare to make sail_."

Axilia skipped beside her mother as they all went down the beach, leaving Barbossa behind with Jack and before she stepped foot into the ocean to swim to the Pearl, she gazed back to see the older pirate captain was tapping the charts in his hand.

"Oh, Jack. _Which way ya goin'_, Jack?"

She grinned, seeing that the animosity between these two was indeed going to amount to humor for her, before darting her lethal body into the sea that encased her form in a gentle caress. Much like it had done many times before.

* * *

**So…? Let me know what you think please or I will totally **_**Calypso Stare**_ **your usernames through the screen. Haha. :)**


	3. Chapter 3: Fingers Crossed

**Yay. So… more people are reviewing - woot woot. Welcome to the ****_party_****: mysteriously hidden guest reviewers, Brightest jewel evening star, ShadowPhoenix34 and Mimzy94. Tell me, was it the ****_Calypso Stare _****reference coupled in with the speed I had updated with those precious reviews****_? _****It was, wasn't it? Even if it wasn't, I just gonna say that it was and move on, okay? Good. This was the perfect time to start the bridging connection/voice of Poseidon hearing thing so that's in here. And ****_yes_****, Axilia is seriously thinking about making off with that monkey. She wouldn't joke about making off with an immortal murder monkey that actually has his own little gun. Seriously, I kinda want one too. Ha!**

* * *

The sun shone high with heat above them as they all busied to get coming, her mother off somewhere else while Axilia sat on a sturdy wooden crate to take off her shoes. The threshold for her soggy socks finally coming to a close. It also gave her an excuse to do nothing aside from hear Barbossa and Sparrow bicker back and forth, the later echoing everything that the former said to the crew. And when Barbossa finally had enough, he twisted annoyed at Jack and asked him heatedly, "What ARE you doing?"

"What are YOU doing?" Jack fired back just as sharply and this went on back and forth, making Axilia grow bored quickly. The monkey jumped onto her, clinging to the back of her clothing in ways he didn't at the hut because of her snake… for obvious reasons, and this action made her grin once more.

"What are YOU doing?" Jack responded once more before he too realized that this was going to continue to go nowhere unless either one of them broke the cycle. And if Jack had it his way, it was going to be _him_. "_Captain_ gives orders on the ship!"

Barbossa did that creepy glance of his that made Axilia throw him out of their hut more than once, you know if her mother would have even allowed that, "The captain of this ship _is_ giving orders!"

Jack stalled for only a moment before uttering, "My ship… makes _me_ captain."

Barbossa leaned forward almost violently and shook the rolled up contents in his hand under Jack's nose, "They be _my_ charts."

Jack shrugged his shoulders in indecision but stood his ground all the same, "That makes you… _chart man_! Not captain."

One random crew member walked up to the pair of them boldly, "Stow it! The both of you! That's an order! _Understand_?!" Axilia raised both of her eyebrows in surprise, and under the twin hard gazes of the captains, the man quickly backed down, "...Sorry. I just thought with the captain issue being in doubt, I'd throw my name in for consideration… _sorry_." He scuffled away from them, trying and failing to get out of their line of sight.

Axilia watched as both Jack and Barbossa shuffled off up the stairs, as if it were competition, surprised that they didn't do something and was going to keep silent until one of the few that Jack wasn't going to take said, "I'd vote for ya."

The man looked at him in consideration as she pulled back on her boots, leaving the soggy socks on the crate as she hopped off, "Yeah?"

She rolled her eyes, finally having enough and moved to stand tall before them… yes, all five foot two inches of her. Her eyes flashed though, making the pair before her gulp after laying eyes upon her and she eyed the one that had spoken up to the arguing captains, "And what would your name be?"

"...Pintel." He nervously introduced after sharing a look with his friend.

"Well, _Pintel_…" Axilia voice grew softer, almost innocent, taking on an softer accent then her mother, "You should be _damn lucky_ to have your head after that stunt." He gulped in response, before she turned to his friend who straightened up, "And you... were you _not_ one of the ones… actually yes, I think you - tall, skinny and scared - were the very first one on the list that Jack Sparrow said weren't going to come. Your vote doesn't matter… in fact, you should be _lucky_ you haven't been _kicked off of the boat_ \- yet."

He too gulped in response, looking anywhere but her. She smiled calmly at them both, as if she didn't just put them in their place, before giving them a mock curtsy in response. "...Gentlemen."

She turned to move on from them, but as soon as she did she caught her mother's eyes that were glittering with approval. She stepped in her mother's direction, shrugging her shoulders in response before changing direction to help out the crew. Whilst she did so, she caught sight of Barbossa pulling out his large spyglass to look out towards the front of the boat… making Jack pull out his, trying to yank it open further than it would allow. He looked through it only for Sparrow to frown and put it away, for it was too small.

Barbossa saw this and smirked tauntingly.

Axilia shook her head, _Men. It all boils down to who had the bigger spyglass in the end, eh? _She huffed, blowing a stray piece of dark hair out of her face before she got to work.

Sometime later, Axilia noticed that Elizabeth came running up from below deck like the hounds of hell were on her heels with an expression of utter sadness etched upon her face.

_And that shipwreck is none of my business._

* * *

Axilia worked until nightfall and her hands were sore, choosing then to go below deck for the night. She had just started to drift off to sleep, before there was a commotion above her making her eyes shoot open in fury. _I am not my mother but I know enough of the craft to turn most of them all into slugs. I am sure we have some salt somewhere on the ship. _She breathed through her nose, trying to calm herself but for the most part too exhausted to really think straight.

She put on her boots and went up the stairs to see Gibbs beginning to load up his gun, only for Will to stop him and look to her mother. "They're not a threat to us, am I right?"

_They? _Axilia wondered before stepping forward a little more, catching sight the people in question. Each one in a small rowboat of their own, an invisible string pulling them forward with only a little lantern to guide their eyes. She heard a familiar accented voice speak, "We are nothing but _ghosts_ to them."

Barbossa inputted a, "Is best just let them be."

Elizabeth's face brightened considerably at seeing a familiar face and called to him loudly to get his attention, "It's my father, we've made it back. Father _here_, look _here_!"

"Elizabeth…" Jack whispered to her, snapping her out of whatever she was thinking, making the blond look back at him and as much as he didn't want to dim her smile… he knew someone needed to tell her, "We're _not_ back."

"Father!" The word stretched louder in her panic, making him look up at her then. Axilia tried to find the similarities but other than the eyes, she failed to do so.

"Elizabeth... are you dead?" He questioned in surprise, and watched as his daughter could only shake her head in response. "...I think I _am_."

"No. No... you can't be!" Her protest of it went unheard by him as he went on.

"There was this chest, you see… and a heart. At the time it seemed so important." He spoke, ignoring his daughter urging him to come aboard, "I learned that if you stab the heart, _yours_ must take its place. Sail the seas for _eternity_. The Dutchman _must always_ have a captain. Such a silly thing to die for."

"Someone cast a line!" She demanded of anyone to help her, and a man grabbed the rope but apparently didn't move quickly enough, making Elizabeth rush over to snatch it away. She threw in overboard, crossing it perfectly over the boat he was in. "_Take the line_!"

Her mother leaned into Will, uttering slowly to him, "A _touch_ of _destiny_."

"Elizabeth, I'm so proud of you." He smiled up at her, and it was clear that he was happy that these would probably be his last words to her. That she knew he was proud of the woman she had become.

"Father, the line, _take the line_!" Elizabeth's voice carried louder in her fear as she took off toward stern of ship.

Axilia snapped into action after her even before her mother yelled that, "She must not leave the ship!" Grabbing her arms to pull Elizabeth down from where she was positioned to jump, the blond elbowed Axilia's left cheek hard. Literally fighting to get to her father, and the older woman would have let her go to _rot with the dead in a watery grave_ if Will hadn't reacted in time to help grab Elizabeth.

"Father, come back with us! I won't leave you!"

"Elizabeth." Will whispered her name in that soothing voice of his.

"I'll give your love to your mother, shall I?" Was the rhetorical question that Elizabeth's father aimed at her before going deeper into the fog.

With Elizabeth in his arms, he steadied her and proceeded to rock her back and forth. His eyes bore into her mother's before questioning, "...Is there a way?"

And in response, her mother gazed at him pitifully for just a few moments before shaking her head, "Him at peace."

"Right… well, _I'm_ going back to bed." Axilia chose that moment to break any silence that might settle upon then that wasn't her doing, and when all besides her mother gave her an incredulous expression. She made a move to walk away but paused to look back at Elizabeth's tearful eyes that were aimed her way with shock and betrayal.

"Oh… and Elizabeth?" She questioned and said one parting statement before she turned away to put action to what she just casually uttered she was going to do, "I understand grief but if you _ever_ hit me again? You may just see your father again _long before_ your due time."

* * *

The next day, Axilia awoke refreshed but refused to get out of bed. Her cheek hurt too much and there was still anger in her soul for the female that she once thought of as a friend. The last thing she needed was to go into the blazing sun and deal with the side looks that would be aimed her way… as well as a mopey Elizabeth. She wanted to feel sympathy for the other woman but there was too much fury inside of her. So she didn't move from her room until almost sundown, which was when she pulled on her shoes and started up the stairs only to pause at the top to hear her mother speak.

"If we cannot escape these doldrums by nightfall, I fear we will sail trackless seas, doomed to roam the reach between worlds... _forever_."

Gibbs moved beside her, his stance tense, "With _no water_, forever seems to be arriving a mite too soon."

Axilia heard enough, and so she turned away from them and the sight of Elizabeth sulking in the corner to figure out what to do. As she grew closer to where Jack sat studying and spinning the charts at a nearby table, she heard him utter to himself, "UP IS DOWN... Well that's just maddeningly unhelpful. Why are these things _never_clear?"

_Up is down…?_

_Up is down…_

What could that mean? She pondered it before a male voice whispered in her head, unknown to who it belonged to, Axilia stiffened.

_Rock the ship._

She echoed the words as a question in her mind, wondering about who it was that wanted her to do this… because she wasn't good at taking orders. Especially to people that weren't even there. How crazy was she anyway and is it too late to fix it?

_Rock the ship._

The voice uttered again patiently, before she finally got it and once more she wondered who it was that was helping her… but was thankful for it all the same. "Mother!" She screamed making Calypso push away from the side, pick up her dress and run towards her daughter.

When she saw her daughter was alright, "Tia" looked at her childe with wide eyes, angry for the fright that coursed through her over nothing. But she also took pause at the sight of the grin that curved her daughter's lips, "Axi-"

"Up is down, mother!" Axilia cut in, not caring that her mother would probably be pissed that she cut her off. "_Rock the ship_!" Her mother's eyes widened, disregarding Jack's exclamation of how he almost figured it out first and how everyone else was uttering the last sentence with full understanding. Barbossa was quick with calling out actions.

"Loose the cannons, you stinking bilge rats! Unstow the cargo, let it shift!"

"How _did_ you figure this out, my dear?" And with watchful eyes, she moved closer to her daughter to hear the response.

Axilia's eyes clouded as she looked down for a moment then back at her mother, willing her mother to understand the very things that she could not. If only one Dalma woman could understand it, then maybe it was worth thinking she was crazy after all. "I didn't. A male voice... _patient_… and _strong_, told me."

As she looked at her mother's gaze that held wonder and tears, Axilia knew that something clicked and she turned away from her mother to join the crew in running back and forth on the deck of the ship. Her mother gazed upwards, and with curving lips mouthing a "thank you" to a certain someone for their help. With a spell upon her lips, commanding the sea with the dark arts, the dread haired woman ran beside her daughter. Back and forth, until slowly, the Pearl tilts on it's side so they needed to hold onto the edge. One man, unknown to her, fell and got crushed by a cannon. Elizabeth's gasp caught her ear but Axilia chose to think nothing of it, they hung there until… finally, the ship was upside down in the water.

With puffed out cheeks and blurred vision, Axilia found she never missed her true form until this moment. Water burned her nose but even as the sun that leaked their the water darkened, she still hung there beside her mother and Barbossa. She felt a shifting of gravity that curled his stomach and looked down to see that… something rose to meet them above the sails that waved in the water.

The force when it hit them was mighty and it pulled them into the safety on the deck, coughing and gagging up sea water as they sat soaked to the bone. Ocean sprayed them from overhead, and some had to attempt to pick up their faces from the powerful waves that followed them.

Axilia eyed the area to her left and saw that even the adorable little monkey and parrot survived. She heard her name and on shaky feet, tried to pick herself up to comfort her mother. _Now, I think I know what they mean by 'sea legs'... _She huffed and forced herself up once more, stumbling to her mother with a smile and welcoming the warmth that she was gifted with.

"Blessed sweet westerlies, we're back!" Gibbs exclaimed loudly making Axilia look at her mother with a curious look at mouth the question of _'Westerlies?'_

"It's the sunrise." Elizabeth murmured delicately and it took all Axilia had in her not to say something about that obvious statement. She blinked a few times as one thing quickly led to another and Jack, Will, Elizabeth, _and_ Barbossa all pull guns on each other.

In watching this, somehow the little monkey pulled out a gun and aimed it at the parrot close to him.

The parrot seemed to overlook him with as much unease as the animal could and offered up a, "_Parlay_?"

She couldn't help but laugh softly, and made a mental note to steal the monkey when all of this had come to close. For Axilia certainly felt as if Barbossa didn't deserve him. She watched as they stupidly make a act of laughing and lowering their guns before pointing them back at each other.

"All right, then. The Brethren Court's a-gatherin' at Shipwreck Cove. And Jack, you and I are a-goin', and there'll be no arguin' that point." Barbossa started calmly.

"I is arguin' the point. If there's pirates a-gatherin', I'm pointing my ship the other way." Jack responded.

They all go back and forth, pointing their guns at each other, until Jack uttered to Barbossa that he wasn't going back to The Locker and fires his gun… And is somehow surprised when it doesn't go off. In return they all fire both guns in their hands and their expressions looked surprised that it didn't work.

"_Wet powder_." Axilia called out, unable to watch this stupidity anymore. "_Geniuses_." Their audience watched as the four grumbled and left in different corners, obviously put out that they couldn't actually shoot each other. To which, Axilia once again decided that it was yet another subject that she'd just save her breath on.

* * *

Shortly afterward, all of them gathered around Will, looking at chart. Why _he_ was the one sitting was beyond Axilia but she didn't ask, especially when he offered up information, "There's a freshwater spring on this island. We can resupply there, and get back to shooting each other later." He shrugged gently.

"_You_ can lead the shore party, and I'll stay with my ship." Jack directed at Barbossa who looked almost afronted at such a statement.

"I'll not be leaving my ship in your command!"

"Why don't you _both_ go ashore and leave the ship in _my_ command?" Will suggested lightly and spoke again when he could feel the full weight of their gazes on him, "Temporarily."

Barbossa growled after a few moments of silence, "Fine." He stormed off with Jack once more copying him. Axilia gave her mother a look and rolled her eyes in amusement, though it had nothing on when she saw Jack emerge beside Barbossa and his spyglass with one so long that he couldn't even hold it straight.

_Again with the freaking spy glasses!_

"Mind the boat." The parrot offered before going with his master to scope the island and there was a stirring in Axilia's stomach as she watched them row to shore. Telling her to be ready for what happened next.

Something was coming for them, and for once Axilia was sure it wasn't Davy Jones. It didn't feel sinister to her, yet still dangerous. She looked toward her mother once more, this time for guidance, and was met with a knowing gaze.

_She felt it too._

* * *

**So… yeah… Elizabeth messed up, putting this mildly. I don't care. I don't really like her. I think that she got caught up in her fear and anger, letting it out accidentally on one of the last people on that ship she should ever hit. Especially when Axilia would and has literally ran into battle to help her. May have burned that bridge. It may have worked in her favor if she said sorry but… then again, Axilia was too pissed off to hear it even if she did so… Yeah.**

**Okay, people. Let's see what you think! Ready, steady, GO Review! :D**


	4. Chapter 4: You should see me in a crown

**Okay, this is where we are going to throw the map in the backseat for more than half of this chapter and completely **_**off road it**_**, okay? Warning: Character Death. Major? Er, yeahhh… I guess. Do we care? Probably not. Is it Elizabeth? No… Dang it. Is it still satisfying and morbid? Yessss. Axilia is 1000% sarcastic/not putting up with anyone's b.s. if it doesn't further her goals. Her mama taught her as much.**

**Sidenote: I changed the name to "Fathoms Under". I also totally was channeling "**_**You should see me in a crown**_**" by Billie Eilish for this whole entire chapter… (it probably will show.) It was Timeless and then Ocean Eyes... I feel like this is better. **

**Also, thanks for the feedback. You guys are awesome!**

**Now, onward.**

* * *

It started with a boat on their horizon, and Axilia moved to tell her mother that such trouble would be arriving in approximately ten minutes. Afterwards, as she was walking back up the steps, she found a sword pointed at her throat. Will Turner's dark orbs flashed with an odd mixture of bravery and regret. "Now… _child_." Axilia smirked at him in response, stepping forward to have the sword touch her chest in response, "What are you going to do with _that_?"

"I'm sorry." He offered in response before starting to push on the sword to get her to back up with the rest of the captured crew. She did, mindful of how more chinese men were swinging onto The Black Pearl before any of the crew knew it. Her mother acted startled when she came up but the expression cast in her eyes deepened when she laid them on what Will was doing.

"Don't utter weak apologies, _half wit_." Axilia spat in his direction, only mindful of half of what was spilling through her lips as her blood boiled. Arching her back away from him, she brought a leg up to kick his hand with all her strength, never once thinking that she had on a dress and shouldn't be doing this. She knew too well that she was far from lady. The sword fumbled away from him and as he went to grab it, Axilia made sure to grab it first and swung it up to touch the sharp point upon his neck. Her necklace swinging up of the contents of her dress at the movement. "Especially when you don't _mean it_."

A rough laugh came then, unfamiliar in its tune, and she looked to her left to see an imposing figure making his way to the front of the group. Clothed in robes which seemed to be layered with a shoulder guard and an armor-plated belt inset with jade stones, he didn't look familiar to her. Eyeing fingernails that were longer than her own, she looked upon his long mustache and goatee but what was most interesting of him was the ancient dueling scars crossed his face… an outward testament to his nature. _This must be the captain, Sao Feng…_ He looked upon her, studying her even as his men brought a bound Elizabeth on deck. He seemed to care naught about any of that when he gazed upon her necklace - trident, dark green seahorse charm and two crystals in all - like he just found something worth a million treasure chests.

"Sao Feng." Will looked away from her to nod to the captain, who's gaze was also split, yet redirected his attention back to her.

"Captain Turner." Sao Feng barely uttered these two words before Axilia crackled loudly in response, the sound causing more than one person to shift easily - and surprisingly Sao Feng wasn't one of those people. How interesting indeed.

"Look at _you_." Axilia grinned dementedly at Will, eyes flashing with something that settled over him, before continuing in a tone that was of a parent talking to a baby. "_Moving up in de world_, eh?" She released a laugh again, unable to help herself after he saw her channeling her mother's accent. "You know, before I thought I would have to _bribe_ you with a pound of gold to hear you even raise your voice and now? Now, you are bargaining other's for your purposes? I'm so _proud_." She pretended to wipe a tear from her right eye.

"...It was because _me_, wasn't it? Being around me enhanced your manipulative side?" She also questioned as she watched him open up his mouth to deny it but steamrolled over him before he could, "You know what? I _know_ it was. Don't answer that, I don't want you _ruin_ this proud moment with your _obnoxious_ voice."

Another laugh from Sao Feng sounded.

Axilia was well aware of the weight of her mother's pointed stare but chose to not look in her direction as finally - the people from the island finally came aboard, Jack hesitating for a few moments before following.

"Sao Feng." Barbossa greeted, "You showing up _here_, 'tis truly a remarkable _coincidence_."

_I don_'_t believe in such things, _Axilia visibly snorted in response as the slanted eyed captain disregarded him and his words that were meant to make the situation better.

"Jack Sparrow, you paid me _great insult_ once." Those dark eyes moved from her to land on Jack's face, refusing to part from it after his gaze settled. Sao Feng moved forward, closing in on the pirate that unsuccessfully hid behind Barbossa. Jack gulped and shuffled sideways out of Barbossa shadow, brave.

"Well, that _doesn't_ sound like me." He didn't see the hit coming as Sao Feng punched Jack in the nose, making him stumble backward and the people around them made pitiful noses. Axilia grimly watched on as Jack cupped his nose with one hand, shifted it from side to side in sickening cracks to straighten it back out and tried to casually move on to a different subject, "Shall we just call it square, then?"

Will pushed forward past Sao Feng's crew and pointed at Elizabeth, his tone demanding, "Release her. _She's_ not part of the bargain." All three men turned to him in response before the corners of Barbossa's eyes crinkled in suspicion.

"And what bargain be _that_?"

Sao Feng disregarded that question too, his dry lips pulling into an almost amused but definitely indulgent smirk, "You heard _Captain Turner_. Release her." And as Jack echoed the two words that he put emphasis on, two of the men closest to her cut her bindings off of her wrists. The others laughed with humor at the expressions that Barbossa and Jack had at his words.

It was Gibbs that ratted Will out, "Aye, the profidious _rotter_ led a mutiny against us."

_Well, not _all _of us. Though he certainly tried._

In the damning silence that followed, and the incredulous gazes that some aimed his way Will opened his mouth to softly confess, " ...I need the Pearl to free _my father_. That's the _only reason_ I came on this voyage."

Elizabeth stormed up to him, demanding answers with blazing eyes, "Why didn't you tell _me_ you were planning this?" As if she held a right to know everything… _What was the original reason I liked her again?_

Will just look at her solemnly, and it seemed as if the softly spoken words he gave in return held a reflection of a conversation that they once had… making it _the ultimate comeback_ because of how it stunned Elizabeth into silence, "It was _my_ burden to bear."

_Little Turner is growing a backbone? ...How is it that somehow just made him so much hotter? _Axilia shook her head gently, _Man… do I really have problems…_

Finally, it seemed as if Jack had officially lost all patience and pointed at the acting captain to mock him, "_He_ needs the Pearl. _Captain Turner_ needs the Pearl." Axilia was actually proud of the way Jack's voice warped before he moved on, dismissing him as if he was merely an annoying bug, to Elizabeth, "And you felt _guilty_… which you should be, to the fullest measure." He let looked at Barbossa aiming a, "And you and your Brethren Court!" before he looked around to see if anyone would honestly answer his next question...

"Did no one come to save me _just because they missed me_?"

Gibbs rolls his eyes at his captain's dramatics and Axilia watched as some huffed before raising her hand. She wasn't the only one. Pintel and his idiot friend that spent most of his time losing and chasing after his own _eyeball_, the voiceless pirate that had parrot and Jack the monkey all slowly raised their hands. Jack made a note to point at all of them in celebration before directing his parting words to Barbossa and Sao Feng, "_I'm_ standing _over there_ with _them_."

"You _sure_ about that… Jack?" Axilia questioned gently, her sea blue eyes darkening a few shades, "Who, in fact and out of all of us, has a _sword_ in hand and that you would want to back you up in a fight?"

He stalled for a second, predictability, and moved to step in her direction. She watched this with a victorious smile even when Sao Feng stopped him dead in his tracks, a hand weighing heavy on his neck, "I'm sorry, Jack. Really, I am." He aimed the last three words in her direction - curious - before looking back at him, "but there's an old friend who wants to see you first."

Jack's lips twisted nervously, "I'm not so certain I can survive any more visits from old friends."

Without further adieu, Sao Feng wrapped his arm around to grab Jack's opposite one to drag him over to the side of the boat. His men parting quickly to make room, and even upon the wind Axilia could barely make out Sao Feng's words

She did, however, push herself up onto a nearby wooden crate to stand up and see what they were looking at. Another ship was closing in to them, one with white sails and a dark brown body.

_Great, more people. Just what we needed. Not._

Her attention was redirected as a chinese man quickly walked up to where she was, no doubt attempting to get her down. Axilia's grip tightened on the sword and lowered it down onto his direction, "_Try. Me_."

The chinese rattled off something high and foreign at her in chinese, and only stopped when Sao Feng snapped at his _own crewmember_. Whatever he said made the unknown sailor back away promptly, properly chastised it looked like. Axilia looked upon Sao Feng from where she stood and saw something reflecting in his eyes that she only saw when people spoke of her mother. Fear and awe, after all, apparently went hand in hand. He _knew_. He knew from the moment that he saw her necklace, she reckoned.

"What is your name, woman?" The captain spoke to her, his eyes up and scanning her face… no doubt trying to place her based on her looks. He wasn't… eyeing her in a provocative way, however so she said nothing.

Axilia looked upon the faces cast in her direction, almost immediately locking onto her mother's sharp gaze. She watched and waited until her mother stopped twisting her lips in worry to give Axilia a barely there nod. Calypso watched as her daughter redirected her gaze to the man who asked, patiently waiting for her answer. Even she could recall through the chaos, though not many of the people who made up each crew understood, that the necklace that Axilia bore caught and kept Sao Feng's eye. If it saved her in the end, if it gave her an _out_, Calypso wanted her daughter to use it. Wield the men with her words and beauty just as Axilia would a sword… but when the time came, Calypso also fully expected her daughter to slaughter them all into shark chow.

_Make ye mother proud, _was the message that Axilia got from her mother mentally.

"My name is Axilia Dalma." She introduced herself after a moment of silence, before slowly lowering herself to sit down on the crate to be eye level with the scarred man she was speaking with. "You and I, Sao Feng, have not had the pleasure of being properly introduced. Though, I heard that you are merciless to your enemies and apparently have no awareness to what one would consider fair play… _I approve_." Her lips curled dangerously, watching his eyes sparkle at the sight as she moved to touch the sharp edge of the sword with her thumb. Playing with it, disregarding the mere fact that she was talking with a man who's crewmember she almost killed not even five minutes ago.

"In the face of such rumors, I must ask…" She started with a gentle tone to the man who seemed to literally be hanging on to her every word, before she pointed at Barbossa. The man's expression quickly turning to one of surprise at the attention, until he let out a sharp gasp at her next words. He wasn't the only one, "You see _him_? The one that has wrinkles, graying long beard and that ridiculous captain hat that he likes to play _pretend_ with? Yes, we call him _'Chart Man'_ because he is responsible for navigating our course." She smirked at the weight of Barbossa's glare and didn't move her eyes from Sao Feng's face, even as she heard Jack Sparrow snicker at the other captain's expense. "Kill him before you do anything else… I want dibs on his monkey before any one of these _sea rats_ calls it."

Her mother rolled those dark eyes in amusement and didn't look the least bit surprised, even as Barbossa bulked at her in response. "Pardon me?! Killed… for - what?!" It was a testament to just how shocked he was that the captain couldn't even speak.

The monkey let out a shriek that could have been outrage, but Axilia chose to promptly ignore this fact.

"Sparrow shoots you all the time, leaving you die. If you see it the way that I see it, this is only nature running the course that it should have." Axilia stopped touching the sharp blade with her thumb to wave a hand at him, dismissing Barbossa altogether, before looking back at Sao Feng's amused expression with a serious one. "If I need to have any defense here - which, we all know that I _don't_ \- not only is Jack the Monkey immortal and murdery... but _also_ has _his own little gun_." She shrugged and shifted her facial expression to one of mischief, "In return, I will present you with what you want in return - within reason of course. So… do we have an _accord_ or not?"

Sao Feng eyed her with contemplation, "What if I said that in exchange, I wanted you to accompany me aboard my ship when we leave here?"

Axilia narrowed her eyes at him, "Is that what you want? Me aboard the ship with you?" He nodded silently, watching her think it over. She shrugged carelessly, hopping down off the crate. "_Done_."

Sao Feng smirked widely in response, triumph etched upon his form before he swiftly turned to move into Barbossa's direction. "Now… wait a-" was all the captain got out before Sao Feng grabbed a sword out of the sheath that belonged to one of his men and ran it through his lower stomach. A gasp was heard from him before Sao Feng pulled the sword out bloody and kicked the man hard overboard, leaving him as shark bait.

_I like the way that they all… scream._

The sound rang in her ears, yet she didn't so much as look their way... uncaring to the dread and anger that she knew without doubt would be in their eyes. In fact, Axilia didn't look at anyone else as Sao Feng presented her with two hands with the sword and a bow at the waist. She eyed him as he still refused to meet her eyes, sword outstretched and for once… She could see why her mother loved to play with people so. Axilia placed the clean sword down to take the bloody one from him and only when the weight left his hands did he look at her once more.

She caught her mother's eyes, whom nodded in approval in response. Only when did Axilia hear the monkey give another screech did she turn to it with a grin, it growing as she saw multiple people trying to hide it behind their bodies. Jack just stood on the sidelines, looking at her with no judgement even though his eyes were considerably wide.

She cast him a look before looking back at _them _that kept her from her prize, and tilting her head Axilia called upon her mother's craft. "_Venir_." She called to it in french for it to 'come' and when the craft settled upon it, she could tell because uncontrollable screeching could be heard and the line between her and her new pet had trouble containing it. She turned her head away, pulling her right leg over her left and looking ahead with a smirk upon her lips. After a few minutes, the monkey threw himself into the air to grab at her right arm with his tiny fingers.

She reached to lift his tiny chin with her left hand, marveling at the fact that his eyes reflected her own. "..._Perfect_." She whispered softly and reached her left hand up to pet his head. A second later, she felt a nagging pull in her mind and after a little hesitation, Axilia opened herself up to it.

_Childe… _The word curled slowly, the accent all too familiar and yet Axilia wondered how a single word could hold such… triumph.

…_Yes, mother?_

* * *

The words her mother sent through her mind resonated there still, telling her to go with Sao Feng as a interesting Pirate Lord and that she herself had chosen to stay with the idiots… And Jack. Why her mother had chose this, Axilia will probably never be able to understand. She looked back at the The Pearl from where she stood at the bow of the Empress, even as cool blue waters continued to distance them... It wasn't the first time that Axilia was on her own but it somehow felt similar to that. Both her and the woman that bore her were separated for an unseen amount of time, even though in her heart Axilia knew she would be together with her again. She watched with a smirk and widened orbs as Jack _catapulted_ himself from the ship he was on to his precious Black Pearl… _all achieved without a single drop of rum? Impressive._ She liked Jack, truly, he was humorous and resourceful - even if there was no doubt that he did have his faults.

_Witty Jack, indeed. ...Race you to the Brethren Court, mother. _

A throat cleared nervously behind her, and Axilia hardened her face as she turned to the man that was to show her to her room. He had dark hair cut short, skin a few shades lighter than her own, slanted downcast eyes… and was clothed in warrior armor. Nothing that she could really be able to pick out from a crowd.

Axilia stepped forward to him, settling herself before she spoke lightly… even if her words were slightly offensive. Jack the Monkey - and _oh my Poseidon_ he deserved a better name than... _that_ \- released a sound from his lips that almost resembled a snicker feom where he clung to her. You know, maybe that was why Barbossa had named him that... The monkey had character and mischief that reflected the human.

"For the record... Warrior. _Silence_ has always been my _favorite_ sound. Let's do well to remember that, okay?"

* * *

**Alright, people. So… yes. Barbossa has been kicked off of the boat… **_**literally**_**. Axilia finally got her monkey… voodoo'd controlled zombie style. Elizabeth wasn't stupidly mistaken for Calypso, who by the way has a plan, and we are **_**semi**_ **back on point with everything. ...Maybe. Thank you so much for everything. Hope you liked this chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5: Empress

**Hello readers, I come bearing the next chapter. Hope you like it. We will be skating back and forth, off the rails and then back with what happens in the movie. After the Brethren Court is gathered, there will be some that happens in the movie but the rest will not really follow it as we conjoin to the Aquaman man. **

**We are more than halfway there. Woot woot!**

**I hope that you are liking where this story is going so far.**

**Chapter 5: Empress**

* * *

_In the near darkness of the room, with the only light being a few candles, Axilia smothered a groan. It seemed she was been tugged back and forth as two chinese Geisha's made a hard attempt to make the outfit that they put her in fit appropriately. It was beautiful though, she would give the woman that gave it to her that much. It was what one would regard a regular oriental style dress, had a golden bronze floral pattern on black velvet… The collar was high and the slit up her right side was almost to her hip. One of the women 1had placed a golden headdress on top of Axilia's head, and the bells and chains that fell on each side of her ears only served to annoy her. They could have just put that aside and left her hair in the stylish bun and black hair sticks. _

_The problem was that the dress could have easily fit someone of regular height… more than her five foot freaking two inches. It was the only reason that Axilia didn't start throwing knives at Jack when he first called her "shorty", though that also didn't mean that she didn't glare at him the whole first month that he called her that. However, the twin maids knew how to do their job well, it seemed. For at the end of those lengthy fifteen minutes, she felt… pretty for the first time in life. How sad of a truth._

_The maids were fiddling with cuffs of the sleeves that came down to her elbow when Axilia heard footsteps sound through the room. Chinese slowly cut through the air, and her eyes looked downward from the platform she was on to see the twins bow their heads low to her before going about moving away. _

_"Thank you." Axilia kindly uttered softly to them, grateful for their help with the dress that - let's face it - wouldn't have fit her without their help. Sao Feng looked at her with those dark orbs and snapped his fingers high to get their attention, he said something else in chinese. Though this time it made them smile before they bowed once more and left the room. Silence hovered over them before Sao Feng spoke, and Axilia's eyes were cast upon him at his words. Staying there, watching as the soft light shone upon the white scars on his head, and not feeling the aura of her mother's phantom coming into the room to watch what would occur of her. _

_"You know… there was a story my father used to tell me. Of how the great Sea Goddess, Calypso, had a child out of the King of seven seas. And when the First Brethren Court, caught and bound the Queen… they sought and found where Calypso hid her child. Bound the sea nymph toddler into one with skin, who grew and bore a trident necklace… that reflected her true origins." Sao Feng tilted his head to the side as he watched her._

_"...You know your history." Axilia didn't bother to deny that, in fact she was almost impressed. _

_"By this time tomorrow, we will arrive at Shipwreck Cove, and you will be free. We will find your mother and she-"_

_"You wish to release us?" She stepped forward, still on the platform, and didn't even pretend to be apologetic for cutting off his speech. "That was why you acted as you did on the Black Pearl. Why? ...What could you possibly hope to gain from it?"_

_"Suspicious." He called out gently, "One would think that you aren't used to people holding your interests in mind. May they all wonder The Locker, aimlessly, for what they caused in you. You are the heir to the Seven Seas. One such as you should _never _be anything less that what you are. I will not be the last to tell you such words, your soulmate already is the luckiest bloke of us all and you have yet to even meet him yet."_

_Axilia stood still, mentally shocked at his words, and fought not to outwardly express the effect that they had upon her. Instead she stepped down from the platform, disregarding how his head followed her. "Hmm such pretty words indeed, Sao Feng… Empty words… but pretty nevertheless, I suppose. What would your reward be, I wonder. Favor or Fury?" She asked herself out loud, teasing him because that was easier to her. "Decisions, decisions…"_

_"I'll take either one." Sao Feng uttered to her, almost saddened that she thought his words empty, and looked down at her with determination. After a moment, he grabbed her and pulled her to him; the rough grasp he had her in yanked her to his body with ease. He leaned down to try to lay claim upon her lips, and all Axilia could do was widen her eyes and pull backwards slightly in response. He stopped a centimeter away from her lips when a sound that didn't come from either of them echoed throughout the room. Sao Feng pulled himself up, and barely had time to push her away from his body when a cannonball tore through the side of the ship… easily sending splintered wood flying. _

_The force blowing the headdress off of her head, Axilia released a groan and pulled herself up grudgingly to see that a large piece of wood skewered through Sao Feng's stomach. She pushed her messy hair out of her face, fleetingly thankful for that hairdress to be off of her. _

_"Sao Feng..." Axilia started as she climbed over the wreckage that dominated the captain's quarters, moving to kneel beside his bloody form. _

_With a surprising amount of strength, given his current condition, the Captain pulled off his necklace and offered it for her with a shaky grib. "Here... please. With all nine pieces of eight, the both of you will be _free_. Take it! You are captain now. Go in my place to Shipwreck Cove-" He coughed, trying to get more air in his lungs to speak. _

"_Me?" Axilia questioned with a raised eyebrow, "Just in case you haven't been paying attention, I don't really work or play well with others."_

_Before Sao Feng could speak again, a voice interrupted them. Axilia turned her head to the sound and watched past her mother's form as a man ran into the room with warrior armor and a pointed, wide brim straw hat. "Captain the ship is taken, we cannot…"_

_Sao Feng didn't seem to hear him, he just looked up into her oceanic eyes, "Forgive me…"_

_"You saved me…" Axilia smiled down at him and even though she originally wanted to fucking gut him like a fish herself for even contemplating that her lips were his to try and claim… she thought she could find honor in loyalty. She held his outstretched hand with both of her own, "Be at peace."_

_The corners of his lips curled upward in response, even as the pain dominated the rest of his face and with his last dying breath… Sao Feng's last word that he would ever speak was the word, "..._Favor_." The man slowly took off his hat and threw it down, revealing a near balding head._

_The man saw the familiar necklace left in her hand as she pulled them back... and gulped. Based on hearing his captain's last words, it was safe to say that Sao Feng left her as his successor._

_"What is your name?" She looked upon him and smiled gently when he quickly introduced himself as Tai Huang. Axilia caught her mother's phantom eyes with her own and nodded to reassure her that she would be just fine, yet her mother chose not to move from her spot. Even as she directed her orbs back onto Mr. Huang's._

_"I am your new captain, Mister Huang. Tell me, who exactly has taken over my ship?"_

_Tai Huang gulped and responded as quickly as he could, knowing full well by her actions on the Black Pearl that Axilia was quick to show her craft. He would rather not be in pain and start off with her on the 'wrong foot', as the saying went. "The Flying Dutchman, ma'am."_

_Axilia hummed in response before she pulled herself up from the floor, "Well then… I believe it may be time to have a conversation with the monstrous captain. After all, it's been long _overdue_."_

_He just gulped again, cast one look at his former captain and ran out of the room with Axilia behind him. Both of them ran through her mother's phantom, the man knew naught of this for it seemed that Calypso wanted her daughter to know that she would have backup if she would need it._

_As soon as they stepped out of the captain's quarters, two men with swords came up them but they didn't get far. With a grim smile, Axilia lifted up both of her hands in their direction and yanked them into the ocean much like little puppets. Tai Huang gave her a wide eyed side look, more than ever grateful to be one of the people that could slightly count themselves out of her wrath. ...Hopefully. Her monkey's shriek sounded through the air, hanging safely above them in the crow's nest. Her demented smile diminished a little before she spoke to him soothingly, "My mother's craft comes in handy, yes? I don't even possess the full extent on my powers but tell me… did you know the body is made up of water as well? There is an estimated level of it that… calls to my senses, even in this pathetically weak shell. With my mother's teachings, I can do a fraction of what I was able. Sometimes, it is enough."_

_She grinned at him before stepping forward a half step, overlooking the deck that brought chaos to her sight. Axilia lifted both hands out straight beside her and let out a pulse that ricochet the crewmembers of the Dutchman and the soldiers off of_ her _ship, leaving hat was left of Sao Feng's crew watched in amazement as they were pulled off the Empress like a puppet master had yanked at their strings. All aside from Davy Jones, who could only watch as his crew was thrown by an invisible force until one of his crew members that was had an head of an eel exploded while midair. Axilia watched bemused as his tentacles came to life in visible anger, before she moved further towards the balcony overlooking the ship. Leaning over the wooden railing, she couldn't keep her dark amusement in check a second more._

_"Momma taught me well, eh _tentacles_?"_

_Davy Jones shot his head up to look in her direction, his dark and furious eyes taking her in. And even though he was looking at her, it seemed as though he couldn't place her. All he held knowledge of about this child that was standing too upright while talking to him… is it was she that magically evicted his crew from the Empress. How? He knew not but he intended to find out. "Who are you… girl?"_

_Her demented smirk broadened in response, silently provoking him with the knowledge that he knew naught of. As she watched his tentacles twitch angrily in response for a few minutes, his peg leg carrying him a few feet to her threatening, she decided to speak._

"_Who am I?" Davy Jones paused where he was in response, watching her with his dark gaze, as she placed Sao Feng's necklace around her neck in non-hurried movements. "My true name is one you will fail to ever pronounce. I have been called many things throughout my life and the minor one is, and will always be,_ girl_." She made fun of what he called her, casting her bemused gaze upon him as he quickly stalked up the steps. She felt Tai Huang move quickly away from the both of them in response._

"_It is you that I am semi interest in. A lost and cowardly soul you have become… Davy Jones. The sea rat that actually thought that Calypso cared for him. Why she ever showed fleeting interest in such a monsterous being is beyond m-" The hand that wasn't a claw twisted around her throat, the suction cups on the tentacled appendage dug into fragile skin of her throat in an attempt to get her to stop talking of such things. Davy Jones, walked closer to her, imposingly staring down at her smaller form and filling her nose with the stench of dead fish. _

"_Who… are… YOU?!" He screamed down into her face, unnerved that she didn't seem… afraid, but merely disgusted at him._

"_I would normally take offense, but you haven't seen me since I was thirteen years old… my name is Axilia." All of a sudden, the captain of the Flying Dutchman froze, looking down at her face with searching eyes to see if what she claimed was true. He saw it now, the resemblance to Calypso. How she survived their last meeting, when he slashed her stomach when she was a preteen and left her for dead, was beyond him. "And _you_, Davy Jones…" She blinked and pulled his tenacle off of her neck with her powers before lifting him up in the air all together._

_Davy Jones blinked and clawed the air in an attempt to get back down, but looked down at Axilia when all of his efforts seemed to be futile… After she finished her statement, she threw him into the sea, smirking even wider as the splash reached her ears. The profanity coming through her clenched teeth much easier than she thought it would:_

"_Are on the wrong fucking boat."_

_One of her men took it upon himself to rush to the __helm and redirect us away from the Flying Dutchman, and Axilia smirked at the passing shredded off white sails of the __infamous - and thought to be supernatural - "ghost ship". Seeing her smirk, the rest of the crew moved to make themselves busy doing something - anything - working together to clean up the deck. When the coast was clear, her monkey came down and Axilia giggled slightly as he too had an outfit change. He looked dashing with his little black vest over a red and white striped shirt, little black pants and a black bandanna around his head. __Axilia then looked around her, rolling her eyes as it was obvious that the crew held a fear that if they just stood around and did nothing, the woman would think them better in the sea too. She looked for her mother's apparition but discovered it gone. Stepping forward until she was in the area around the bow with her hair waving with the cool night air, Axilia closed her eyes and tilted her head upward, searching with a pulse like she had done numerous times before. _

_A moment of near silence came… when all she could hear was the crew's rapid chinese and the sound of sea echoing to her with longing… when Axilia thought that this would be the very first time that she wouldn't be able to find her mother…_

_When suddenly, there was an answer. With a grin that wasn't as sharp around the edges as her previous ones, Axilia darted down the steps and rushing to helm. When she stepped toward the steering wheel, the man that held it steady for her jumped backwards when her hand was finally on it. _

_And with a grin cast upon her face, Axilia redirected the Empress based on the beacon that her mother acted as. _

_To shipwreck cove…_

"Captain!" One of the men screamed for her in english, rudely waking her up from her memory, before rapid chinese pierced the air. How she was able to finally sleep with the rushing wind and sound of rain through the hole in the ship was beyond her, but Axilia was thankful for it all the same. She released a groan, but pulled herself out of bed all the same.

"This had _better_ be good…" Axilia grumbled under her breath.

In the candle light, the curves of her body shone with light, yet the cold made her shiver all the same. She placed her feet upon the floor, her hand almost immediately going to the soul mark behind her right ear... even as the middle of her right foot came into contact with a splinter of wood that refused to be picked up. Huffing, she moved towards her loose black dress that she wore before coming aboard the Empress and pulled it over her naked body.

"_Captain_! Land ahoy! "

Frustration was clear from her expression as Axilia processed what he said as quickly as she could when her mind was possessed by a morning fog, but she roughly pulled on her boots and made way out of the captain's quarters. The sway of her hips was caught by the men, yet they said nothing of it as they watched her silently. The sun shone on her wayward locks, her face clean of blemish… if they hadn't witnessed her actions the night before last against the Flying Dutchman, they would have thought her an incapable yet beautiful woman.

Axilia smiled when she saw the pointed island ahead of them, the land itself seemed to reflect the darkness of the blue sea in some areas and the sky was shaded with blues and white. "Well done." She spoke to the crew loudly, congratulating them even as her orbs ever left the island. In the corner of her eye, she saw a man bow in response before going to help his fellow crewmen to get to their destination faster.

Slowly, Axilia's smile lowered and curled at the corners, as her monkey climbed up her body. She looked down at him with softness, and decided to finally settle upon the name "Adrial". As much as she liked Sparrow, Jack was hardly a name for a monkey. May Barbossa forever wander the restless seas of The Locker for doing that to him. She pet his head with her hand, watching his eyes close in content before she looked back at the island that they were navigating to.

"..._At long last_."

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**Okay. I so hope that you like this chapter. Please drop a review.**


	6. Chapter 6: Heavy lies the crown

**Hey, you lot! I have been so busy. Chapter 6: Heavy lies the crown. Here we go. **

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Across the Caribbean ocean, the Empress sailed true and the sight of the tropical island as they drew near made more than a couple crewmembers gasp silently in awe. After all this time, it still bloomed with life. When she saw this, Axilia couldn't help but roll her eyes in exasperation and rage. This had a be the same island that they bound both her and her mother in human form… the only reason why it was still standing was because they couldn't do anything about it. _Yet_.

With a grin, Axilia strutted past the crew on deck and with her monkey still clinging to her body, she grabbed ahold of the wheel and steered the ship around the island to find a passageway. With the sun slowly descending and the waves roaring with it's heeding call, she comfortably sailed the ship until she found what she was looking for. Where… where…. Where-

_There_. With a widening grin that outwardly showed how victorious she felt, Axilia turned the ship wheel in a firm grip to sail within the shrouding death's cloak of the narrow passageway, so narrow that it was barely large enough to fit the boat. Though the darkness took away her sight, Axilia's ears trained in on the exclamations of the crew which made her orbs roll unseen in response. There was a moment where she hesitated, when doubt plagued her from within the passage that maybe before called "The Devil's Throat" and where she felt as if maybe she would sail them into a stoned wall when a soft light caught Axilia's eye. A smile of satisfaction curved upon her lips then, as she sailed the Empress straight and true, and rounding the stone bend. Amongst the many other ships - most of which were broken - Axilia's eyes almost immediately drew near to the one with the sails that blended in with the shadows that were quickly falling over them.

_Mother. _The young woman gleefully thought, anticipation shuddered through her body. _How idiotic they were to bring Calypso herself into Shipwreck cove. _She ordered the crew under her command to dock the boat and with one last look at the Black Pearl where she still sensed her mother was, of course, she eyed the seemingly candle-lit structure before her and led the men inside.

"_Sparrow_!" A sharp voice called out suddenly, echoing through the hallway that Axilia and her crew were shuffling down. She stopped abruptly then, and almost immediately her ears caught that the others came to a halt with her. The name itself brought a wide curving smile upon her lips, the flame of a nearby torch brought it to light. She turned to the men following her and underneath the soft light that cast upon her face, Axilia silently brought a pointer finger to her lips to tell them to be quiet. She felt more than heard the crew follow after her as the man's voice continued to talk to Jack, "Might I point out that we are still short one pirate lord, and I'm content as a cucumber to wait until Sao Feng joins us."

Taking a chance, Axilia moved forward out of the shadows, her voice ringing out with the _dreadful news_ and there was something flaring amusement within her at their startled faces. "Sao Feng is dead. He fell to the Flying Dutchman."

Jack blinked at her when she took the sword from the shealth at her side and pierced the blade into the world… pin cushion that they all left theirs. "And he made you captain…?" He offered her a look, anticipation pulsing him through him and he didn't need to be a seer to have an idea on how this was going to go. _Well, at least it's the semi-sane Dalma that we're working with. _After all he quite liked the woman he had dubbed as "shorty".

Axilia nodded firmly, though it was unnecessary, and one of Barbossa's crew members spoke in outrage. "How is this even acceptable? She _killed_ Barbossa… _for his monkey_, of all things!" She got almost wide-spread angry look from everyone as she released a snicker that Axilia couldn't hold back anymore.

"Right, sorry." She paused for a moment in mock thought before continuing, "Wait, no I'm not. The overall outlook is… I'm a _pirate_, a _damn good one_ if I do say so myself… which by the way? I _do_!" She grinned toothy at the one who spoke, the short and fat one that she couldn't remember the name of, not that it mattered anyway. "It was a gunslinging monkey and… onto the most important fact of all of this? He didn't at any time say the word _Parley. _That and he isn't needed when someone else holds his piece."

By now, the audience that had travelled from many lands seemed… pacified, almost. A few even look relieved to not have to deal with him anymore, Axilia noted with a growing grin. _See? I did everyone a favor. Look how darling I am and pay attention to my right hand instead of my sly left._ She noted that some of them were still angry, and were far from done with the subject at hand, solely based from the expressions on their faces. Axilia knew that she couldn't let the Brethren Court know exactly who the crew thought she was, so she cut them all off before they could say anything. She held up a hand, and a certain eyeball that had a slight magik signature pulled out of the person's eye to come to her. She held an expression of disgust as she threw it in the tray along with Feng's necklace, the latter she will be sure to get back later. "Our location has been betrayed. Jones is under the command of Lord Beckett, they're on their way here."

That got all their attention, as she had expected. One man, clad in fancy robes and hat, stood up angrily and demanded, "Who is this betrayer?"

Jack spoke then, trying to assess the situation, "Not likely anyone among us… And it doesn't matter how exactly they found us. The question is: what will we do now that they possibly have?" The scoffers that started when he first spoke quieted when he was done, negative towards her but at a loss at what to do now that danger seemed to almost be knocking at their door.

"It's obvious, isn't it? We fight." Axilia asserted and clenched her teeth as all but two apart from her crew, Jack and Elizabeth, laughed mockingly at her suggestion. She could still see why her mother despised them all… though she couldn't help but wonder for the first time in her life if her mother's quest for vengeance on the new Brethren Court for what their ancestors did… was right.

Axilia shook her head in frustration as an older woman, Chinese in features, stood up from her seat and looked at her like she was a mere child, "Shipwreck Cove is a _fortress, _child! ...A _well supplied fortress_. There is no need to _fight_ if they cannot get to us."

Axilia's face shifted with poorly disguised disgust, judging her overly done makeup and her weak backbone, "What is your name?" When the woman introduced herself as 'Mistress Cheng', she continued, "For the record, I'm refuse to call you _Mistress_, so get that through your head before we go even further. I also want to make it clear that I don't know how you were called to lead anything, since it is clear you aren't led to fight. You are _temporarily_ safe, at any given moment an enemy of yours can walk through those doors the same way that we all did." _Little did she know one already did. _"All because you are temporarily safe… Does _not_ make you secure. Now why don't you sit down, and talk to someone about how to _properly_ apply makeup. Or better yet, keep quiet… _child, _and let the grown ups talk battle strategy."

_Child… because Cheng, I'm technically older than you._ It wasn't long or, otherwise, hard to spot there was red underneath the white paint, not that Axilia minded and with that it seemed that the entire room went into an uproar. One after another, voices overlapped, as each were bickering back and forth like… _children. _She couldn't help but shake her head.

From her right, Elizabeth's saddened voice barely caught her ear, "...This is _madness_."

Jack was quick to correct her, "This is _politics_."

_Same thing, Jack. _Axilia shook her head in amusement before pausing to give him a side glance, "Hey Jack… when you escaped back onto the Pearl from Beckett's ship… was that without a single drop of rum?"

He looked at her fully then; shocked because of her question though she knew naught why and let out a bold laugh, hard enough to clutch at his stomach. "Oohhh. I like you shorty, I really do. Yes, yes it was." He finally answered her when he got his breath back.

She smiled, impressed, and she told him so. It only lasted a few minutes before it fell, and while looking at him square in the eye… Axilia spoke. "You know what's going to end up happening, whether these people care to accept it or not?"

Jack nodded, looking at her before pointing out lightly, "We were at war anyway… we never stopped. This is just a new enemy, but look at _them_." He looked at he arguing people before snapping his eyes back to her, whilst she still watched them. There was something in her eyes, soulful yet hard. She reminded him of a commander in that moment, a Captain… a warrior queen. He leaned down to speak lightly in her ear, "We know they aren't ready for this, but are you? The way you spoke of Davy Jones, how you reacted when we first came to the Bayou shack and mentioned that ship… I think your mother isn't the only one who has a hardened heart against the undead captain. And I see it in your eyes now, when you look at them. You hate them, shorty, no doubt about that… but not as much as I had expected. Here I had thought that it was all your mother's influence over the years… was it all an act instead?"

Axilia pulled back, looked into his brown eyes that seemed to see everything and shook her head in confusion. What was wrong with her, indeed? Why was she second guessing, when the blood of many - including some from the First Brethren Court - still felt like it stained her hands? She had mercilessly cut them down and yet - "...I don't know anymore." That was the utmost truth… And she hated it. What would her mother say when she found out? She hated them, the Brethren Court… but was it right to kill them based on their ancestors actions? She… wasn't quite sure anymore.

He looked at her for a long moment, and she back at him. Axilia felt as if this was a test, one that she would fail if she looked away. When he was done assessing her, Jack straightened up as if nothing had happened and nodded.

"Fair enough." He stepped forward, grabbing a chair from behind a person that was standing in front of it, before throwing it with strength to the side. The hard clunk that resulted got several people's attention as they quieted down to see what made that noise and everyone else followed suit. Their expressions made Axilia shake her head, knowing they were on edge just in case the undead captain did come after them... yet would be unable to defend themselves even if that were to happen.

_And happen it would, sooner rather than later, for the whispers of sea salt rattled the outer shell of the cove in warning. Time was almost up for them all._

* * *

_Spineless- _The half composed mental insult was cut off by Jack, and as he started to expertly command the room, she stood silent and curious as to where he would take this. For she knew that Jack always had a plan even if it was half mad or more to many others. Like herself, he was another that many underestimated. "-I have only ever embraced that oldest and noblest of pirate traditions. I submit here and now, that is what we all must do! We must fight... to run away."

Gibbs, the plum first mate of Barbossa - may said captain's soul wander the seas for all eternity, a captain without a ship or crew - sounded off an 'Aye!' in the responding silence.

A dark skinned man in fancy robe clothing stood up then, the one that had demanded who betrayed them, his accented voice could be heard. "As per the code, an act of war can only be declared by the pirate king."

Jack glared at him for stealing his spotlight, his eyes narrowing at him in suspicion, as he slowly moved around the table. "You made that up." The accusation rang through the room, calling out the statement that the other man just gave them.

Cheng raised an eyebrow, not at all amused by the back and forth happening with the two men… but then again, Axilia wasn't quite sure the woman ever laughed in her life. ...Was it wrong to pity whatever lineage Cheng passed onward even more than she already did? No? Good. "Did he now? We now call on Captain Teague, keeper of the code."

There was a moment of silence before the older captain with a long graying beard elbowed his first mate, who stood right next to where he sat. In response, the man spoke boldly and as he did, the captain kept nodding with what he was saying. "SeSumbhajee proclaims this all to be folly! You know what? Hang the code! Who cares-"

He was cut off as the sound of a bullet was released, hitting him precisely in his forehead and without anymore further dramatic events, the first mate slumped forward quickly and half of his body fell on top of the table.

A gravelly voice from above one of the balconies, slowly rang out in warning, daring anyone to disagree with his statement so they too can suffer the same fate. "Code is law."

_Shoot first… explanation later. I like this one._

* * *

"You're in my way, _boy_." The man… (_Captain Teague, was it?_) ...uttered roughly from behind Jack after he silently made his way to them. Taking this chance to eye both in close proximity of each other, a fool could tell that they were related. And Calypso herser did not raise a fool, as such Axilia knew right at first glance that they were of the same bloodline, more specifically: father and son. It was in the way that Jack shifted uncomfortably to the side and tried to get away from the weight of Teague's line of vision. How Teague regarded him with a cool, almost patient glint in his eyes; even after he shot and killed a man in cold blood not mere minutes before.

But Axilia stayed silent… silent as two old men carry up the code and set it on the table. Silent as the fat idiot and the guy that chased his own eyeball around in his spare time conversed about The Code. Silent as Captain Teague whistled and a dog came forth bearing a loosely roped key around his neck. Silent as one of them starts to ask a question but was cut off by The keeper of the Code when he only utters "Sea turtles, mate." before flipping through the book, stares at the page before claiming that… whatever his face was; the tall dark skinned, robe covered guy… was right.

Blending into the crowd as Jack walks forward to check for himself, "...It shall be the duty of the king or queen as per gender to declare war, parlay with said adversaries… Huh, fancy that."

Chevalle spoke then, "There's not been a king since the first court, and that's not likely to change."

Captain Teague agreed, echoing his "Not likely." statement.

Elizabeth asked the naive question of, "Why not?"

Axilia scoffed lowly, dryly, at the stupid question. Tuning out half of what Gibbs started to utter, "Because the king is elected-" and was only brought back to the present when Jack abruptly called for a vote. She watched curiously as each of them basically introduced themselves, and Axilia watched on committing faces to the names. Ammand, the corsair… "Capitan" Chevalle, the penniless French man. _Definitely not voting for a name that can't even say captain right. _SeSumbhajee's assistant spoke for his captain again, that "SeSumbhajee votes for SeSumbhajee." And Axilia couldn't help but wonder if SeSumbhajee's tongue was ripped out or something else gruesomely fun.

It came time for Axilia to say her name and it took all humility to just say her name, instead of introducing herself to these people by her rightful title.

Villanueva. _It casually went onward as if they didn't notice her struggle. _

Wenchtress Cheng voted for herself. Gentleman Jocard...

"Axilia Dalma."

… …What?

Reality came screeching to a halt, Axilia blinked rapidly at Sparrow since he is the one who spoke. Sure, they were kindred spirits in many ways but… "What?"

Jack in turn smirked at her, for this was one of the few times that she was indeed caught off guard. He was relishing within the fact that it was he that accomplished it. "I know, curious isn't it?"

Jocard stood up and demanded, "Why didn't you vote for me?" And with that question, it sent almost the entire room into conflict.

Jack spoke up quickly in response, his own question heavy in the air around them, "Am I to understand that you lot will not be keeping to the code, then?" Captain Teague, who seemed to decide to sit off to the side while all mayhem was unleashing around him, accidentally broke a guitar string at the question. The sound of it sliced through the atmosphere around them, causing the entire room to fall silent as each one quickly remembered just what happened to the last person that disregarded the code in Teague's presence.

Mistress Cheng grit her teeth then, stood up and looked at Axilia dead in the eye with a glint that demanded results. Anyone could tell she wasn't happy with how the vote passed but she, like the others, had to respect it nevertheless. "...Very well, what say you Captain Dalma, Queen of the Brethren Court?"

"I say that you won't have to wait long to see me in a crown… child. Until then, note with all the humility within me, that I do look rather well in one." Axilia smirked at the woman, _if this infuriates you Cheng than I would rather love to see the expression on your face when you see the entire world is mine. _"Until then, you all are to prepare every vessel that floats for at dawn, we're at war."

She kept her eyes on Cheng so when someone else spoke out from the engulfing silence, she blinked incredulously as SeSumbhajee stood up and said in the most squeaky voice ever, "And so, we shall go to war!"

Axilia blinked rapidly at the man - which though she didn't know it, Jack did the same - before shaking her head and gestured to one of the men behind her to grab the tray of "priceless" pieces to hide them away. She then looked to Jack, walking forward silently as he turned to Captain Teague, taking in his blank expression, "...What? You've _seen_ it all, _done_ it all, you _survived_. That's the _trick_, isn't it? To survive." He shrugged as if he wasn't uncomfortable.

Captain Teague in response gave a silent sigh, his mouth moving but naught one sound came out. "It's not just about living _forever_, Jackie. The trick is, _living with yourself_, forever. You sure about this? ...About her?" His dark eyes frantically swept across the room before landing on her and in turn, Jack followed his line of sight. Seeing that Jack now had his eyes on her, Axilia nodded in thanks.

"Aye, I don't doubt her strength. Only fools would do so." After giving an answer, Jack seemed to have had enough of that kind of talk and swiftly switched the subject at hand, "How's mum?" He redirected his gaze and gulped after Teague held up a shrunken woman's head that was dark, old and held thinning hair. "She looks... great."

Turning away from them, Axilia eyed the room with an almost - but not quite - malicious glint. _All the Queen's men. _She smirked in response to her own thoughts, struggling to stay afloat and not drown in the insanity that whispered at her in her mother's voice.

_They will have to fall on their own swords if you demand them to, Child? ...Why don't you? Did you not swear vengeance? ...What has stopped you from doing so now?_

She moved back to her men, the men that Feng left under her command and swiftly directed them out of shipwreck cove. In the dark, a man passed forward to her the tray with the nine pieces of eight and she smirked darkly before handing them to Tia Huang for safe keeping. She sent them all back to the ship before turning away, knowing her orders would be carried out.

Axilia had to take care of a pest problem first and foremost, and only after it is dealt with will she be able to slumber before dawn's first light.

* * *

"It has been _torture_…" Her mother's voice echoed through the barracks below, and Axilia didn't have to be down there to know that those fools had her locked up. "Trapped within this _single form_. My beloved daughter knows naught of it, of her truly rightful place within this world. We are cut off from the sea… from all that we love... And I from you." Calypso added him in there at the last minute, knowing if she didn't -

Slowly, quietly, Axilia traveled down the steps, mindful of the places where she remembered they creaked and stepped around them. Staying within the shadows to not get caught until she wanted it to be so.

Davy Jones's tentacles moved in frustration in response, though he dismissed what she said and let out his own anger. "Ten years I devoted to the duty you charged to me. Ten years I looked after those who died at sea. And finally, when we could be together again, you weren't there. _Why_ weren't you _there_?"

Her mother shrugged, in truth he was not the man that she would ever love, but she chose not to say so, "Is my nature. Would you love me if I was anything but what I am?"

"I do not love you." He spat in response, moving to storm away… in the wrong direction, that is.

Her mother sighed and slowly started to move into the direction he chose, though cage bars separated them. "_Many things_ you were, Davy Jones, but _never_ cruel. You have _corrupted_ your _purpose_… and so yoursel-" While the were talking, Axilia moved closer completely unnoticed until she reached a hand up to Jones's form and curled her fingers inward. Curling the blood within his veins before she yanked the hand sideways, away from the cage to have him hit his head into the hard, wooden beam. Axilia straightened when she noted that the assault of both physical and of magik knocked him out cold, before turning to meet her mother's wide, exhilarated orbs.

"Now mother, don't tell lies. We both know that he was a spineless sea rat long before he ever laid eyes on you."

"_Childe_." Her mother started, unsure of how to proceed and not wanting to chance that anyone would find and lock up her precious babe as well.

There was a moment of silence before Axilia smugly spoke, and if her actions and words before hadn't stunned her mother? The words she uttered next certainly did the job.

"Heavy lies the Pirate Queen's crown, mother. Stained by the blood of past enemies. ...May all be torn between loving me and in despair."

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**Hope you liked it.**

**I switched it from "King" to "Queen" because gender and even though she's not a "King" no one would really question her anyway. Please comment and let me know what you think? Thanks for reading.**


	7. Chapter 7: Sick like me

**Been awhile. Been busy. This is what I got. Hope you like it.**

**Chapter 7: Sick like me**

**...**

_Blending into the dark, cold night after they both made their way above deck, their footsteps silent and lethal forms ducking behind objects… it all was almost too easy for Axilia to guide her mother off The Black Pearl. Her mother complained underneath her breath that since the childe was Pirate Queen, they didn't have to sneak off the ship. Like she now had… dominion over what everyone claiming piracy did and acted. It was… a strange concept to grasp, a responsibility that Axilia wasn't sure she'd ever be ready to command. She cared naught what these people did in their bargained time upon this word as long as they left her alone. _

_Her mother may not have liked that they had waited until almost early morning to execute their escape but she also couldn't deny that it was smart. Knowing this, Axilia quietly aimed a look at her mother to silence the speech Calypso no doubt held on her lips, knowing without a doubt that the odds would not be in their favor with such a crew. She personally would rather take precautions then -_

_A scuffling sound reached their ears, making Axilia turn faster than her mother did all the while cursing colourfully in her head… only to see Jack staring wide eyed at them. Why he was up on deck while everyone else was in bed, was beyond any of their comprehension. Calypso gave her daughter a side look, silent in the face of what her daughter may do. They both liked Witty Jack but she was under the belief that he was still unworthy of their full trust; for while she could utter that Jack was reliable in his own way… his loyalty… there were very few that Calypso would blindly trust. What would Axilia do to him, especially when he could testify exactly where Calypso had gone from her cell if asked? They would have been on the run if they were cowards, instead there was bound to be blood-_

_"Well…" Axilia straightened up in response to his presence, stepping forward and smirking even though her mother couldn't see it. "You caught us." Jack was silent, his dark eyes darting around her face. He knew what Calypso was thinking, he too had the same thoughts as soon as he was discovered. "Goodie. Come along now, Jack. Darkness is wasting away." Jack's eyes widened further at her words that bordered on sarcastic, a silenced question on his lips as he looked from the daughter, to mother and back again. "Jack, let's naught pretend that you aren't my favorite sea rat on this ship."_

_He sighed with his head tilting a sideways a fraction - _that's fair enough - _looked down at his boots for a few long moments before eyeing both women once more with an almost haughty expression, "That's _Captain _Sea rat, your _highness_." He watched as Axilia's lips stretched into a small smirk before finally conceding to the temptation she presented him. He took into account who her mother was before he voted her into royalty, for he saw something shine within that he highly doubted Axilia knew she had. Freedom… freedom from the characterization that her mother thought she grew up to be. Freedom from the idea that her magick was her sole identity. She was free to be the kind of woman she wanted to be… damn everyone else. And Poseidon help him, Jack's heart pounded and something inside him itched to see what she would. Though there was one thing he was simply incapable of walking away from, "...We'll come back for The Pearl, yes?"_

_Axilia's smirk only widened in response._

It was early morning, with the sky starting to slowly lighten around him, that Jack found himself leaning on the Empress's bow in thought. It had seemed to be a while ago that he allowed himself to venture out of the room that Shorty had sorted for him, long before the sky slowly brightened the world around him. However, it also seemed like last night would have an everlasting effect on him. He understood, he couldn't fault her… not after all of what Swann had done… Jack could be honest though, even if it was never to himself, locking the fair skinned woman in her own mind too Magick. With a capital M, that and unchanneled rage, that he knew for certain after the time he spent with them. He knew the women didn't get along well after Elizabeth hit her to get to her father… however, Jack thought of Will and what he would do when he found out. If he hadn't already. Lover boy always had a sense when his damsel was in distress, like his soul was linked to hers and when it felt endangered her soul sent out a echoing wail that sent young William running in that direction.

He was in a situation he never thought he'd be in and as much as he cared for Axilia, he wasn't sure what he'd do when the time came. ...Could Jack protect her from young William? ...Should he? Better yet, did she even need his protection when it was clear the young sea witch could handle her own?

Jack groaned at these thoughts, and moved to rub his bloodshot eyes, effected from his thoughts twisting within his head all night. He sighed, lowered his marked hands and with his eyes closed, sent a lost prayer to Poseidon that no one commented on it. Being close to Shorty would be an advantage with this lot, right? Standing side by side with their captain had to have an effect on them in some way… He should have known better, after all Jack Sparrow never had such luck about things though. Though the comment cut across the air then, from a voice of someone that he spent more than a couple hours contemplating.

_...Had I really done the right thing?_

"You look like _death_." Axilia commented then dryly from beside him, a sly orb glancing at how dreadful he looked for her peripheral vision, emotion brightening in amusement when he jumped a little in surprise. Processing her words slowly with his tired brain, he was sure she meant that he looked more so in reality. More dead than he ever did in Davy Jones's locker, _great… really-_

"I've met death, remember? He's not that scary but you? _You_ really know how to make a guy feel special." Jack uttered dryly, telling her by his tone that she wasn't but when she responded, it seemed to bypass her comprehension.

"Really?" Axilia uttered excitingly, twitching playfully for added effect, "Thank you. That's the line of thinking I was hoping for." He was silent in the face of this, salt carried from the sea passing them both by death's invisible hand, before he realized she too was being sarcastic.

He sighed tiredly and she laughed in response. The light sound made him pause, for as long as he had known her… Jack could have sworn on all the gold in the world that he never heard her laugh like that. It was always forced, shortened and rough. As if she laughed to make sure others heard it, overthinking how much effort she should put into it to make sure nobody questioned it… but _this… _

She shook her head at the look that must have been on his face before tilting it up, the wind spiraling upwards from the sea and into the air. The barely there moisture hitting her cheeks softly like a soft, gentle kiss… even though it naught touched his own. A soft smile curved upon her lips, the look in her eyes gentle, and Jack realized he was seeing a small glimpse of Axilia that few witnessed.

He shook his head, clearing any thoughts plaguing him before speaking, "Did you feel like you had to take it that far?"

She heard his question but paid it no mind for a couple seconds, her face closing off immediately. How does she tell him? How could she explain how much Elizabeth meant to her before it all went and shipwrecked? How does she tell him, justify what she did, without losing him? Axilia swallowed, "No… but I wanted to." She swore that she would be honest with him if he asked. There was so much more to say, she thinks, more to tell him so he doesn't look at her and think she's some kind of monster.

But maybe she was, maybe, deep within the very fabric of who she was… coursing through the blood in her veins… that was all that was left of her mother to pass onto her.

_Jack took a step forward after eyeing her widening smirk, and knew as much as Axilia could be her mother's daughter in her anger… the two of them reached an unspoken understanding long ago. They would come back for the Pearl… even if when they did Axilia will probably aim to throw everyone aboard into shark infested waters._

_But there was a scuffle behind him that made him pause, breath heavy behind him and the outraged question of his name. When he slowly turned around, there she was, fresh faced. "How could you betray us?" Elizabeth demanded, her outfit the same common one she wore to the meeting. Her brown eyes filled with the tears that she forced there. "How could you choose her, an evil spawn that the sea spewed out, over m- us?!" She uttered angrily, hawk eyes directed past him, and the lighter skinned woman stalked forward… as if _she _was the predator here. Jack could have laughed then, but he moved forward to try and stop her instead. Bravery mixed with jealousy would only get her killed. "You're influencing him with your witchery, I know it. The one that deserves a watery grave is _you_. We would all be _better off_."_

_She tried to run past him, foolish girl, and when he caught her an elbow connected with his nose. With a curse on his lips from the action he hadn't been expecting, Jack released her to grab ahold of it quickly with a hand. Through blurry eyes he saw as Axilia outstretched a hand to the woman and before any of them knew what was happening, Elizabeth was catapulted up into the air and left to hang fifteen feet upward. He eyed the beautiful young woman that he chosen as his Pirate Queen; hand outstretched in Elizabeth's direction as she eyed his hand at his face, before turning her attention to Elizabeth and whispering two words that gently carried to him, "My turn." _

_It was only he that noticed Calypso standing behind her with a dangerous smile, and Jack knew if Calypso had it her way… Elizabeth Swann would have met with her parents in the afterlife long before her due time._

Jack gave her a side look then, trying to understand why she cared so much about him to mentally damage a person for him… and came up short. The fact that she could do it, could lock someone in their own mind… was brilliant and terrifying at the same exact time. He remembers looking down Elizabeth's twitching form, orbs glazed over as if someone drained the life of them, before Axilia made note to come into his line of sight. Her face determined, eyes narrowed with a silent demand for his choice… and he gave it as silent in return.

Her mother was displeased by Elizabeth still being alive, even if a shell plucked the sea had more self-awareness at the moment, and Jack had a thought that nobody ever fully pleased Calypso in her life. Jack still would have thought so, had it naught been for the fact that he realized last night he knew nothing of Axilia's father. Whoever he was… the mystery could easily have died with him.

"You know why, I like you Jack?" She asked him out of nowhere, startling him out of his thoughts. He gazed at her again and decided a halfhearted joke would take the worried lines from her youthful face.

"My dashing personality, my need for mischief and rum?" He teased, "My apologies, sweetheart, I believe I'm a little too old for you and your mother would _literally_ skin me _alive_-"

"As if you could keep up with _me_, thank Poseidon that you aren't my soulmate." She cut him off and teased in a dry tone back, "No… for all intents and purposes Jack... we're alike. Not once did you call me a monster for what I did last night. You're _here_ even when you saw me take Swann down with essentially two fingers to her forehead. And even when you may not agree… you're sick almost like me, Jack."

He raised an eyebrow, confused and not quite understanding what she meant by that. He watched as she raised a hand to him, and mentally flinched. _I saw what those hands could do. _She laid a hand on the middle of his chest, directly above his own soulmark, and this time he physically flinched in response.

"We're two ships on the sea, Jack. Scouring the corners of the world trying to find the very one that completes us… but all that we ever find is seaweed and loneliness. We fight for our conscious, sound reasoning… and sometimes we slip. The madness that edges at our soul sets in." She bit her bottom lip with pearl teeth and shrugged before retracting her hand from him. "Sometimes, the only plan that works is built upon insanity. Sometimes people look at you and think you're mad… when reality utters it's only partly your upbringing and moreso the fact that your soul was not built to be so alone. It spirals, whirlpooling out of control and there's nothing you can really do to stop it… most times you're not even sure you want to."

Jack watched silently, in awe, at her. She continued, shrugging, looking off into the distance, "People have tried to kill me for being the spawn of my mother before I could hold my own head up. I had to kill for my survival before I even knew what I was. People… People think my mother had influenced me, molded me into her likeness and sometimes… sometimes, I think she has succeeded. I care not if they see me as mad if I survive though, Jack. If they fear me... let it be fear they feel."

She blinked then, and moved away to him to give him the space she felt he required. He heard more than saw how the wood beneath her bare feet under her simple dark green dress squeaked under her weight, how she stopped a crew member that was coming up the stairs and uttered in broken Chinese for the man to leave him alone. He turned to look at her back as Axilia tapped this man's side to get him to move over before disappearing down the stairs.

This soldier slowly moved his head in Jack's direction, a glint of accusation crossing his eyes and commanding them to stay there. Jack shook his head, wondering if he could go back to bed without anyone questioning what he was doing…

His head had yet to stop _pounding. _

* * *

In the confines her room, Axilia paced. She had dreams of this moment… the song that her mama always swayed with her to when she was but a child… when she listened to it and finally understood the meaning with the backstory she was given… the bloodthirsty teen that felt so different, blinded by seeking vengeance. Axilia knew it; knew she was being stupid for hesitating… knew her mother would smack her harder than she ever had if Calypso knew the thoughts that plagued her daughter.

She didn't want to feel responsible for the mayhem that would be undoubtedly unleashed… but she wanted to be free.

She couldn't ask any of the crew, they were so blinded by their adoration for Calypso and Axilia that… she also didn't want to ask Jack. Not because she was afraid of his advice… but because she already foolishly opened up too much to him earlier.

_You hate them, shorty, no doubt about that… but not as much as I had expected. Here I had thought that it was all your mother's influence over the years… was it all an act instead?_

She locked her orbs on the glistening ocean just outside of her window, the sun shining it with a thousand pearls… and with longing and confusion in her heart, Axilia knew what she had to do.

…

**Hope you like it. Please don't pm me or whatever to do more updates. I will when I can and when I want to. Stay safe, guys.**


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